


Umbra

by douchegrayson



Series: Lunar [2]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, Zelda - Fandom
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Grand Theft Wagon, Medical Inaccuracies, Twilight is lonely, Zelda and Twilight are on a roadtrip!!, Zelda wants to give him a hug but its hard!, and Zelda gets to name their horse but she is not really good at it, and regular hurt and comfort too I guess, or rather, they also commit grand theft auto, they are bonding over all sorts of things, they are gonna bond a lot, this is mostly a fun and nice fic but also a little sad in the beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 45,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21860140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/douchegrayson/pseuds/douchegrayson
Summary: After the group of eight is forced to leave their injured friend behind, Twilight tries to deal with his crippling loneliness. Zelda, unwilling to see him suffer any longer, takes him on a roadtrip through their Hyrule and also puts him on the long track of recovery.-----ORHow a princess and a horse can make a fine pack as well.The second installment in the Lunar series!
Relationships: Zelda & Twilight
Series: Lunar [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1568821
Comments: 104
Kudos: 145





	1. No Place is Home

**Umbra**  
noun, plural _um·bras, um·brae_

  1. _Astronomy_  
a) the complete or perfect shadow of an opaque body, as a planet, where the direct light from the source of illumination is completely cut off  
  
b) the dark central portion of a sunspot  
  

  2. a phantom or shadowy apparition, as of someone or something not physically present; ghost; spectral image



* * *

  
  


The term _lone wolf_ was an oxymoron. 

Zelda had come to this conclusion about three weeks after the group had left her and Twilight behind at the Ancient Tech Lab. At first, it seemed that Twilight was handling it well, that he could stand being separated from the rest of the heroes and that he would focus on getting better, but soon, his appetite faded, he would poke the dishes Jerrin prepared for them with his spoon and barely eat anything. 

Holding the spoon was painful for him.

Sitting upright for a long period of time was exhausting.

Talking strained his throat, so he didn’t.

Emoting pulled at the fresh scars in his face so he quickly adapted to a neutral expression.

Zelda often watched him sitting at the cliff behind the lab, staring out into the open sea, the wooden pendant Time had given him ever present above his shirt. His shoulders were slumped and his stare vacant. 

She could not recall the last time she had seen someone looking so devastatingly lonely.

Unable to listen to any more of Robbie’s tech talk, she excused herself and made to leave when she noticed something hanging next to the door of the lab. It was Robbie’s old Sheikah straw hat. She grabbed it as she walked out and went over to Twilight.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was blindingly bright in the sky above them and it was comfortably warm outside. Twilight had been sitting here since after breakfast. She put the straw hat on his unkempt hair and sat down next to him with a smile.

He looked at her, a little startled.

“I wouldn’t want you to get a sunburn.” she said and hesitantly reached out to pat his arm. Even after three weeks, she still wasn’t sure how to talk to him. What could she say to cheer him up? Would it be insensitive to talk about Wild? Or ask him about his home?

"Thank you, your highness." he replied in the whispery tone of voice he had adapted to spare his throat from hurting. Not too loud, but still clear enough to be heard in a fairly normal room.

Zelda blushed. "Please, call me Zelda. Barely anyone is addressing me with my title anymore." She looked away, brushing a few strands of sunlight blonde hair behind her ears “I’m not even sure I still deserve to carry the title at all.” she added and Twilight frowned before - to her surprise - he let out a ruff and short laugh. “My Zelda said something similar once.” he said. On this, Zelda perked up. In the past three weeks, they didn’t have many opportunities to talk - mainly because Twilight was asleep a lot or was in too much pain to talk - so for Twilight to come out about anything was great.

“Oh- why?” she wanted to know and assumed her usual position when she listened to somebody else - she tugged her hands under her thighs and pulled her shoulders up a little. 

“Ah … when I was out on my journey my Hyrule was attacked by a dark sorcerer. He conquered Castle Town in a matter of hours and marched into the castle, joined by a pair of shadow beasts and demanded her to surrender, lest he’d kill every single civilian he held captive. And then some.” 

Zelda looked at him with a frown “So?”

“So, she surrendered. Because she wanted to protect her people. But as a result, Zhant covered the land in an eternal twilight and everyone who lived there was transformed into spirits. She felt like she failed her kingdom and thus was no longer sure if she even deserved the title of princess anymore.” he said.

“Hm.” Zelda looked back onto the sea and thought about it for a bit. “That’s not right”, she said “She did it to protect her people.” she said, almost stubbornly. 

Twilight tilted her head towards her in agreement. “I know. That was what Mi- that was what I told her, as well. She believed me, in the end, of course.” he smiled a little “She is a great ruler.”  
  


“Do you two spend a lot of time with each other?” Zelda asked and tried to read his expression but it was difficult with him, she had figured. Not just because he kept his face neutral. But then again, Zelda thought, she had never been really good at reading people. 

Twilight snorted, but it didn’t sound disrespectful. “I still go down on one knee when I see her, which is ...maybe once or twice a year? So no.” he said. 

“Ah.” silence fell on the two of them again and Zelda looked around, trying to think of something or anything to do or to say. 

In Wild’s letters, Twilight had always sounded kind and easy to talk to but this was a different Twilight from the one he had described - of course. He had been in terrible pain for a long time and had suffered a great deal of injuries that had taken his ability away to defend himself. This would mess up everyone, she thought.

Coincidentally, her gaze fell onto the wagon and the horse that was grazing nearby and an idea formed in her mind.

She clapped her hands “Right”, she said “the others, they got this wagon from the stable at Dueling Peaks! How about we bring it back?” she asked as Twilight turned over his shoulder to look at the wagon that stood, unsuspecting, in the bright afternoon light. 

“I can show you some things around this Hyrule that I think you might like. Like Zora’s Domain or … or maybe Kakariko? There are Hot Springs at the foot of Death Mountain, too! How about it? Tassaren doesn’t need to know where else we took the wagon.” she grinned almost mischievously and Twilight looked back at her. Almost, she thought, he almost returned the smile.

“Sure.” he said.

***

It was going to be good, Zelda thought. That way, the could both get out of the Lab, Twilight would get more fresh air and maybe the beauty of the Hyrule she lived in would cheer him up. 

At this point, anything to stop him from looking _so, so sad_.

They packed some supplies - bandages, lotions, a few potions and Jerrin even went out of her way to pack them rations of food. They loaded it into the back of the wagon, Twilight struggling to put his own backpack in but refusing to have Zelda help him - and finally climbed the wooden seats in the front.

They left the Ancient Tech Lab when the sun was high and not a single cloud was in the skies. Zelda took up the reins and started on the track.

At first, it seemed to go well. And really, how difficult could it be it was just a horse in front of a wagon, pulling said wagon. All the horse had to do was walk forward, right?

Except soon the horse was getting nervous, was wiggling back and forth in the harness and stretched her head wide forward as if she was trying to walk away. Zelda tried to pull her head back with the reins, which only caused the horse to whinny and threw her head back. 

A fresh saltwater breeze was blowing around their noses, the peninsula was coming up to their left and the ocean’s surface glittered like a thousand silver rupees. Twilight was completely captivated by it. He had never seen the ocean before and its beauty was almost enough to distract him from all his bad thoughts. But then the horse suddenly stomped to the right and bucked in the harness and Twilight’s head snapped around. “Stop her”; he said and touched Zelda’s hand awkwardly. Zelda tugged at the reins until the horse stopped and Twilight jumped off the wagon and walked to the head of the mare.

He started to whisper to her, scrubbing his right hand along the length of her nose and through her mane and little by little, the horse was calming down. Twilight looked up to Zelda. “Did they ever give her a name?” he wanted to know and Zelda shrugged “Not that I’m aware of.” she watched curiously as Twilight went to the back of their wagon and searched one of the linen bags Jerrin had prepared them for a couple of apples.

“So?” he asked as he walked back to the head of the wagon. “What are we gonna name her?” 

Zelda was surprised that he would ask her to name the animal and looked at the back of the big horse. She had never had to name a horse. Her old horse back in the day - Din - had already carried that name when she had gotten it. When Wild had shown her his descendant - a strong and brilliant white horse - and had caught him for her, she had simply called him Din as well. 

“Hm … how about Hoofles?” she asked with a chuckle, sure that Twilight would reject her on the spot and probably give her some sophisticated name like Spirella or Neighfertarte or something. 

  
  


“Hoofles?” Twilight echoed and the mare threw her head up and snorted. As soon she saw the apples in Twilight’s stiff hand, she moved to take one, chewing on it with pleasure.  
“Well, I think we both like it.” he finally said after the newly named Hoofles had devoured a second apple and was proceeding to rub her nose against Twi’s shoulder. 

“You’re a good girl, right, Hoofles? I know being in the harness is scary and we’re not really good at driving yet but just bear with us a little longer, okay? We’re gonna take a detour and have a little break, hm?” he spoke to her in the sweetest voice she’s ever heard and a warm smile spread over her face as she watched him. She remembered something Wild had written in one of his letters.

_… and you should see him on horseback! I swear, he was hanging off the side of the horse, still hanging on to the knob of the saddle with one hand and he kicked at one monster and beheaded the other with his sword, all in full gallop while hanging off the side and then he ran alongside it and jumped back up, it was amazing. And even if he doesn’t fight on it, he always knows what to say, how to scratch their ears, what the horses need. He’s great._

When Twilight returned to the wagon, Zelda helped him up on the seat. Or at least, she tried to, but Twilight was heavy and she wasn’t especially strong. Her failed attempt made him grimace a little but eventually, he was seated next to her again. They continued down the path and Twilight suggested not to use the reins too much while occasionally talking to Hoofles. Accompanied by their voice, the horse walked a lot smoother in front of the wagon.

***

"Hm." Twilight said as they stood at the steep slope that would take them up to Tarrey Town.

"Hm." Zelda agreed, observing how the slope rose far above them, an ever upward path towards the sky.

Hoofles shook her head and made the harness jingle.

Twilight's gaze drifted off to the side where he could see a small beach. “I thought we could get all the way to the center of that Peninsula but I’m not so sure anymore.” he said and hopped off the wagon again.

“Let’s take a break at the beach. Hoofles is gonna love to be off her harness for a bit.” he said and Zelda agreed with a little smile. They brought the wagon to the side of the road, unbound Hoofles from the shackles and while Zelda grabbed some of their food, Twilight guided the mare over to the little beach, where he simply let her go. Immediately, the horse bounced into the shallow waves and kicked her legs back, happy to be free of the weight of the wagon. Twilight stood and watched her prancing about happily. 

Zelda set up a little picnic and when she was done, she touched Twilight’s shoulder and had him sit down next to her. Luckily, Jerrin had packed them rice balls and sandwiches. All things to eat easily with injured hands. 

Zelda watched the horse as she chewed on some of the rice balls, quietly deciding that her Link’s rice balls were worlds better. But Jerrin’s weren’t bad either. While Zelda started on her second - or third? - rice ball, Twilight was still chewing on his sandwich, having an eye on the horse and on the ocean that was gently lapping at the sand.

The princess used his distraction to study his face. The scars on his forehead broke the pattern that Zelda still couldn’t tell what it was - a tattoo? A birthmark? - and went all the way down to his cheeks and chin. One of his eyebrows was separated by a scar, stopping just short of his eye. The other clawmark had narrowly missed his other eye. An especially nasty scratch had split his lips. The skin around it was still a little angry. His hair was dark blond with a few, almost dust colored strands mixed among it. His skin was pale from days of sickness and being indoors. 

Still, Twilight’s most striking feature were his eyes. They were steel blue and the color seemed to intensify with his sadness. He was handsome, she thought. Even with the scars.

Twilight dropped his sandwich back into its wrapping and rubbed his thumb over the palm of his right hand. Zelda could understand he was having troubles eating when the scar on his lips was still fresh.

"It must hurt." she said and Twilight didn't deem it worth a reply. Zelda bit the inside of her cheek and looked at Hoofles. The mare was just trotting out of the water and over to a patch of grass and wild herbs that she went to town with. "Oh!" Zelda breathed and jumped to her feet. Under Twilight's watchful gaze, she dashed over to the wagon and rummaged around in her backpack. A minute or two later, she returned with a set of fresh bandages in a light blue color, a towel and a water canteen and a rather big tin container. She settled down in front of Twilight so that their knees were touching and placed the supplies next to her. 

"Princess-" Twilight began but Zelda shushed him as she reached for his hand and pulled off the old bandage. It had been used a couple of times, with thorough washes in between but in doing so, had lost most of it stabilizing qualities. She discarded it to the side and looked at his palm in the sunlight. 

The center was scarred beyond recognition, with thick, convoluted tendrils that spanned over his entire hand, erasing the lines in his skin and his fingertips nearly completely. The back of his hand was barely better off. The scar was still burning red but other than that seemed to be healing nicely.

Twilight paled at the sight and quickly turned his gaze away and onto the ocean. 

Zelda took it in stride and opened the tin container. "Right", she said as if they had been holding a conversation. "When Lin- Wild saved me from the castle and I truly got to see all the scars he had obtained, not just the old ones from when he … when he had died …" she paused for a moment, tin in one hand, a generous scoop of a strong smelling, bright red lotion on the fingertips her other, "but the new one's too, I felt terrible. I noticed that he was in pain a lot, he swore it was never a big deal but I've seen the way he would just do everything a little bit slower on cold or rainy days. So I found some medical books and they had a recipes for this ointment." she said and swapped the lotion into Twilights palm. He flinched from the odd feeling but Zelda was undeterred and began to massage the salve into his hand. 

The muscles under her fingertips felt stiff - damaged undoubtedly, just like the top layers of skin. 

His fingers twitched involuntarily from the stimulation and Twilight let out a little grunt.

"It’s made from fat, goron spice, sunshrooms and spicy peppers. Wild calls it Wonder Remedy. It really seemed to help him and I was so glad that I could … that I could at least do this, in the aftermath." she said and finished up. Briefly, she washed her hands with the towel and the canteen before she reached for the light blue bandage. It seemed to be made from another material and wrapped around his fingers easily. Zelda did it with skillful hands and secured it with a clip. It definitely looked a lot nicer than the old bandage and felt a lot better.

It didn’t just feel more stable, but the ointment Zelda had applied was slowly heating up underneath the bandage. It was a very comfortable kind of warmth that made his hand hurt a lot less. Of course, the pain wasn’t entirely gone but it became more bearable than before. Twilight looked down on his hand. 

“So, how is it?” Zelda wanted to know with a smile playing around her lips.

Twilight looked at her and mirrored her smile, even if it was just brief. “Better. Thank you so much.” he said quietly. 

“It was my pleasure.” Zelda said and she went to finish her rice ball. They packed up their lunch break and caught Hoofles again to put her in front of the wagon once more.

***

The climb up the hill was steep and to make it easier for their animal companion, Zelda and Twilight decided to walk alongside her as she pulled the wagon up. Zelda held onto the reins and Twilight had one hand rested on the wooden plank that was attached to the harness.

While Hoofles seemed to be able to handle the rise rather well, soon Twilight was winded. His knees hurt from the upward motion and every breath strained his throat and his still bruised ribs. It felt like a hundred needles were jabbing his lungs. Halfway up the slope, he had to stop walking and coughed until some of the hurt and scratching in his throat was bearable.

Zelda looked over her shoulder and stopped the wagon, holding Hoofles by her holster “Are you alright?” she wanted to know. She was tempted to go back and help him but she was also scared that Hoofles couldn’t stand there long.

“It’s … okay …” he gasped and wrapped his arm around his rips. “Keep going”, he waved her off with his other arm and remained standing, trying to catch his breath.

The princess was hesitant about it but eventually did as told and continued to walk up the slope. As she had reached the top, she made Hoofles walk a few more steps and left her there to check on Twilight.

The hero had began the trek up once more, considerable slower this time and with smaller steps. Zelda reached out to help him and gasped when he shoved her off a little. “Don’t-” he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and looked at her “I can do it myself.” he mumbled between grit teeth and continued to walk. Zelda retreated her hands and watched him with worry.

It wasn’t a big deal, she thought. Twilight had sustained serious burns, had nearly lost his life, of course it would take time for the wounds to heal, even with fairies and red potions. It was no wonder a climb up a hill would be exhausting. She decided to walk a few steps behind him, in case he would topple over so she could catch him. 

But he made it eventually and leaned on the back of the wagon, steadying himself until his breathing was normal again. His legs were shaking. His face was pulled into a deep frown. 

In that moment, Zelda had never seen anyone hate themselves more.

“Hey …” she began careful, but Twilight scoffed and lifted himself up “I’m fine.” he mumbled and walked to the front of the wagon, pulling himself up into the seat of the wagon again. By the way he slumped back, it seemed that had taken the last of his strength.

Zelda bit her lower lip and quietly climbed the seat next to him and made Hoofles walk once more.

***

They arrived in Tarrey Town by the time the sun was already halfway down the horizon, basking the uniform houses of the town in a warm, orange light. An old Zora was walking around with a long, burning candles and lit the lanterns all around. When he spotted the wagon rolling into town, he waved.

“My, it’s the Princess Zelda!” he called out and grabbed the horses’ reins, so Hoofles would stop. “It’s been so long! Can I offer you and your companion a place to stay?” he asked and narrowed his eyes. He leaned closer and looked Twilight up and down.

“You’re not Link. What’s your name?” he wanted to know.

“...Twilight.” he replied and the Zora nodded. “Fitting name, I say. You look like you need a bath.” and without asking another question, he pulled Hoofles with him and moved them over to his little inn.

“Who’s that?” Twilight asked under his breath.

“Kapson. He owns the inn around here. It’s not super luxurious or anything but it’s free and he gives out good meals.” Zelda replied under her breath and Twilight nodded.

***

It turned out that the bath Kapson could offer was a bathtub on the roof of the little house that stood under a small roof and looked out on Akkala lake. It was … cute Twilight guessed. And it was definitely warm enough to take an outdoor-bath. Kapson had boiled some of the water and filled up the rest with cold water, so when Twilight slipped out of pelt, tunic and armor, the water had a nice temperature - nothing too hot but not too cold either - and the herbal bath he had poured smelled nice.

Twilight sunk as deep as his aching muscles would allow. The wounds littered across his torso were slowly transforming from angry burns into extensive scars that replaced most of his intact skin. Everything was so fresh that every movement still hurt. His left arm was the worst off, he thought and decided to avoid looking at himself for as long as he could. That way, he didn’t have to think of what Ilya would say if she ever saw him like that. Or how Rusl would react if he found out Link could no longer wield a sword. He had no troubles imagining Ulis shocked face-

Twilight’s eyes snapped open and he was momentarily blinded by the glaring light of the setting sun.

_Tell me … do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls?_

With a groan, Twilight leaned forward and stopped just short of the water’s surface, head between his knees. The herbal bath Kapson had poured smelled nice. It reminded him … it reminded him of …

_Cub._

Thinking not only of him, but of Time, Sky, Wind, Warriors, Legend, Four and Hyrule. Each of their faces flashed before his inner eye and he sighed, unable to stop it. He had done his darndest not to think of them in the past weeks, had tried to protect his heart by sleeping or attempting to read. It was all in vain. 

He had not seen his pack in nearly a month.

Not a day had went by that he had not imagined them.

Where were they?

Were they still alright? 

Had they been ambushed because he could not have been there to scout ahead?

Had Sky suffocated in his sleep because no one had noticed his Asthma attack?

Had someone comforted Wild when he woke up from one of his nightmares?

Did someone have an eye on Time’s aching muscles after every fight?

Had someone stopped Legend from picking random fights?

Was Wind’s leg okay?

It was stupid, of course. Twilight _knew_ they could handle themselves, that they were a perfectly capable and strong bunch of warriors that wouldn’t let themselves get seperated or killed by petty things.

Twilight breathed in as deep as his bruised rib cage allowed him and exhaled as slowly, trying to ease the crushing feeling of loneliness that was threatening to take them over. He longed to hear their laughter again, have Wild and Time tell him all sorts of stories as he sat aside and listened, memorizing every word.

Goddesses, he missed Time so much.

His mentor- his … his _Pops_ \- had looked so utterly defeated when he, too, had realized that leaving Twilight behind was the best possible action. It had almost been enough to change his plans and go with them.

He knew _that_ would have been even more stupid. He was too weak. Time had known that, too. 

Twilight grabbed the pendant around his neck and pressed it into his palm until the corners began to cut into his skin. He desperately wished for it to grow warm. 

Something burned in his eyes and Twilight told himself it was the smell of the bath. He lifted his head with a sigh and watched the sun go down slowly, warm tears slowly trickling down his cheeks. He remembered Rusls words clear as day and he was not surprised in the least that he was overwhelmed with his own feelings right now.

After all, loneliness always pervaded the hour of twilight.


	2. But times are changing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is a bit of fighting going on in this chapter but I don't think it's enough to make the rating go up! Tell me if you think otherwise!

* * *

“I think I might know just the place for you.” Zelda announced when Twilight returned into the small room that they were going to share for the night. Her happy tone died in her throat when she saw his face. She knew what people looked like that had been crying. His eyes were still red-rimmed and his breath was a little shaky. 

Of course, Twilight knew immediately that she’d noticed and averted his eyes. He grabbed his sleeping tunic from his bag instead and pulled it on gingerly, waiting for the inevitable question.

“Are you okay?” 

There it was. Zelda was at his side and wanted to help him with the tunic, but Twilight just made a point of stepping away from her and pushing his arm through one of the sleeves. “ ‘m fine.” he croaked and sat down on the bed. His hair was still wet and the smell of the herbal bath clung to his skin in a nearly unbearable fashion.

Zelda’s hands still hovered in the air and she looked at him with her brows furrowed. “Okay …” she just said quietly.

“Do you … do you want me to rewrap your hands?” she asked instead, after a moment of quiet. Twilight was still not looking at her but just gave a crude nod. That was at least something. Zelda went to grab the tin container and the blue bandage once more and also got another, fresh bandage for Twilight’s left hand. 

She grabbed a little, wooden stool and sat down in front of Twilight. He smelled of chickaloo tree nut, Hyrule herbs and silent princesses.

It reminded her of her Link and she sat there for a moment, just looking at his hands and allowed to let her thoughts stray. 

When Wild had been whisked away from their world, he had been right next to Zelda. They had spent a nice day at Mikau Lake, with a nice picnic and hot tea. One moment, Zelda was gushing about the flowers and plants that were growing near to the waterfall, when a rumbling had pulled her from her rant and she turned her head just in time to see Link jump to action, sword at the ready as a large, black portal opened on the grass right next to him. 

A strong and black vortex had formed in the center of it and had pulled Link forward, away from her. Zelda had made a dive for him, grabbing at anything she could, clinging to his tunic. But the energy that was pulling Link away from her had been too strong.

His hand had slipped from her grip, his hair violently whipping around his face. Black energy had begun to creep up his body, swallowing him whole and the last thing Zelda had heard, had been him, yelling her name desperately as the black energy covered his face and the portal had closed. 

“Princess?” Zelda startled from her thoughts and looked up at Twilight. For a moment, she was so lost in thought that he looked like her Link. The same messy hair, the same eyes- but no.

It wasn’t entirely the same. Twilight’s face had sharper features, his eyes were just a couple of shades darker, just like his hair. 

But the expression- Twilight looked at her just as concerned as Link would look at her. It made her heart ache and she looked down on his hands. These hands that had gotten so severely injured because he had selflessly thrown himself in front of his brothers. 

Just like Link had put himself in front of her over and over again. Her breath hitched in her throat and she squeezed her eyes shut.

Twilight pulled his hands away from her and put them in his lap. “Are _you_ okay?” he asked instead, his voice soft and husky. 

“Ah … I’m not so sure”, Zelda whispered “The last time I saw Link was when he was dragged away from me through a portal.   
I heard nothing of him for weeks until a strange postman approached me and delivered a letter to me … from him. But instead of the letter calming me down it just made me freak out more. Where is he, is he going to be okay? Is he really traveling with alternative versions of himself?” she said quietly and reached for Twilight’s hands again. 

It would be easier to talk about this while she worked on his hands. Distraction always made her words flow easier. 

“Soon … more letters came in and he told me all about you guys, answered all my questions as best as could and he- oh”, she had to laugh as she unscrewed the tin and massaged the ointment back into Twilight’s palm.   
  


“He would not stop _gushing_ about you. As soon as he found out that you .. you were Wolfie, he was over the moon. He wrote about you in such bright colors, I’ve never heard him talk like that. He would go on and on about your swordsmanship, your horseback skills and your pumpkin soup. Oh, the soup. You cannot imagine how much he wrote about the soup.” Zelda almost rolled her eyes with a little laugh. 

Twilight flinched and looked away. Thinking that she might have hurt him, Zelda looked up only to find his face as red as a tomato, all the way to the tip of his pointed ears.

It made Zelda smile and it was nearly enough to drive away the tears that made her view swimming. 

“He didn’t just write about you, though. He would go on about all of you endless. He admires Time so much, too. He constantly complimented Warriors for his tactical thinking. I have all the letters. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you read them. If you want.” she said, but Twilight just kept looking away.

“Maybe …” he mumbled.

Zelda nodded and finished up his right hand, now turning her attention to his left hand. She rolled off the wet bandages. At least it wasn’t bleeding anymore. The stumps of his fingers just looked very, very raw. The skin on his former pinky finger had began to grow over the wound and the broken off bone was no longer exposed. It was a grizzly sight and Zelda took a deep breath, constantly reminding herself that if she could do nothing else for Twilight, she could at least help soothe his pain.

“I was alone when it happened”, Twilight’s voice yanked her from her thoughts and she paused, looking up at him again. His blush was gone but he still wasn’t looking at her.

“The village I’m from is in the middle of a forest. It was a winter evening and I had been out to gather firewood for one of the villagers. He had broken his leg and couldn’t go out by himself so I offered to help”, he said “I remember that I had a little sleigh with me so I could gather a bit more. Just so that he wouldn’t have to worry about it.” he recalled.

It had been freezing cold, that night. A bone deep chill, that had kept most of the villagers inside at all times, huddled in front of their fireplaces, eating hot soup and drinking hot mead. Rusl had insisted that Link would move in their house with them, his treehouse way too cold for the terrible winter that had claimed Ordon Village that year. 

Link had been reluctant at first. After all, the house was full of people. Colin’s little sister Heshi had just learned to walk, and especially to run and climb, so both Colin and Rusl had their hands full watching where she was going and on top of that, Uli had been pregnant again and was struggling a lot with the harsh temperatures.

Rusl had insisted that having Link around would calm the bunch. Colin and Heshi absolutely adored him, whenever he was around, Heshi would cling to his leg and demand to be carried on his shoulders at all times - and Link indulged her all too often. After some more convincing, Link had given in and moved into their house. A couple of days later, Rusl had broken his leg as he was out on a hunting trip with Link. He had carried him back home and had since then done most of the work around the house, without complaint but showered in gratitude by Uli and Rusl.

“I was just past our regular hunting area. I was planning to thin out the area behind so we could claim new grounds and give the animals around a chance to repopulate.” he told Zelda. “I know they never said it but the villagers always thought I was paranoid for bringing all my gear as soon as I would go anywhere. 

I have to say I felt rather smart when that portal opened and dragged me in. I wasn’t scared that I would be helpless, no matter where I ended up.” he said and fell silent as Zelda applied a different kind of ointment on his left hand and wrapped it up tightly.

“I wonder how much time has passed since then …” he added quietly, his brows knitted in concern. “I wonder if they are alright. I wrote a letter but … I never got a reply.” he mumbled. Zelda put her hand to his shoulder.

“I’m sure they are okay.” she said and rubbed his thumb along his collarbone in a comforting gesture. Twilight let it happen for a moment before he pulled away from her gently. 

“Sure …” he whispered. Twilight took a deep breath as she stood up and cleaned her hands on a nearby basin. “I’m sorry”, he began “what were you saying earlier? About where we could go?” Twilight coughed a little, the strain of talking so much taking its toll on his throat. 

“Oh, yes! I noticed the way you were looking at the ocean and I figured maybe you’ve never been. There is a town build right around a beautiful beach, it’s called Lurelin Village. I thought maybe it would … maybe it would cheer you up.” she said, her voice getting smaller towards the end. 

“In his letters, Link always wrote how much you liked fishing and there are a lot of fishers in Lurelin Village and … and-” she felt silly, suddenly and didn’t know why. What if Twilight had been at the ocean a million times already? What if he just did the fishing out of necessity?

“That sounds great.” 

Zelda gasped quietly and looked over her shoulder at Twilight, who finally, finally, looked at her and the smallest of smiles adorned his face.

“Maybe, if we come across a merchant, we can get some ingredients and I can cook you that soup.” he said.

Zelda smiled back, her heart feeling a little lighter.

“I would love that.”

***

It was a two day trip to Lurelin Village. Had Twilight not already been aware of just how large this goddamn land was - well he would have come to this conclusion now.

Endless emerald fields followed quaint, little groves that sat around small lakes. More often than not, countless hills made their drive feel like they were riding waves instead of dirt patches and all sorts of birds flew overhead and joined them for a bit.

In the distance, seemingly in the center of the land, Twilight could see a castle, no longer surrounded by malicious energy. Zelda happily shared her plans of rebuilding the castle and the town along with it and the closer they got, the more craftsmen they met on wagons themselves, transporting large construction materials. 

All of them greeted Zelda with waves and joyful faces. Even though she had been a stranger to most of them, they had accepted her as the princess and seemed to like her a lot. It was nice to see, Twilight thought. Wild would be proud.

The road to Lurelin Village eventually brought them to the Bridge of Hylia. As soon as the large structure came into view, Twilight’s face fell. 

Of course he had been here before, with Wild, but it had never really struck him just how much this bridge looked like the bridge he was used to. It wasn’t of course exactly like it, but still enough to ring the bells of memory.

The sun was beginning to set and Twilight shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The air around the bridge was weirdly charged. Little sparks of electricity were dancing across the surface of Lake Hylia underneath them. Something that looked vaguely like a horn suddenly broke through the water. Hoofles threw her head up and let out a loud neigh.

“Stop the wagon.” Twilight said quickly and Zelda did as she was told. 

Together, they watched in awe as little by little a great dragon rose from the electric green colored depths of the lake. It moved its big body effortlessly through the cool air of the evening, gravity completely meaningless to it. 

As it wound itself upwards, sparks flew across its pearly, shimmering scales, daring any airborne beasts to come close to it and meet their demise. Time seemed to have come to a complete stand still as they watched the majestic creature rose further and further into the air until it set out to fly up a waterfall and disappear beyond the horizon.

Zelda and Twilight both sighed loudly as soon as the dragon was out of sight and the moon had taken its place in their view. 

“I’ve seen this a couple of times but … I think I will never grow tired of it.” Zelda whispered, barely daring to speak up, lest she would break the serene mood that had fallen over the two of them.

“Me neither”, Twilight whispered. Even Hoofles seemed appropriately mesmerized by the appearance of the dragon. 

“Who was it again?” Twilight asked as he gave Hoofles a little push to keep going. It was getting late and he didn’t want to camp out on the bridge.

“Farore.” Zelda hummed. “Like the goddess of courage. So … your patron, I guess?” she said and Twilight looked up into the sky. “If you believe in the goddesses, then I suppose she is.” he answered and earned a surprised look by the princess.

“You don’t?”

“Hm”, Twi huffed “let’s just say my life never gave me much reason to believe in merciful goddesses that watched over me.” 

By Hylia, did Zelda wanted to know more about _that_.

  
  


They crossed the bridge and since it was a beautiful, warm, cloudless night, they decided to untie Hoofles and huddle up in the wagon, which Zelda park right at the edge of Finra Woods. Twilight was positive the mare would still be there in the morning but he still watched her for a bit as Zelda shoved their backpacks and supplies to the front of the wagon to make room for their bedrolls, pillows and additional blankets that she had brought. 

“I’m going to keep watch”, Twilight announced and Zelda frowned, a rolled up blanket in her hands. “Huh? What? No. If anything, I should take first watch. You’re still not very fit.” she said, dropped the blanket in its designated place and put her hands in her waist. 

Twilight looked at her over his shoulder and at the almost-blanket-and-pillow-fort she had built in the back of the wagon. He was not going to lie, it looked very comfortable. Zelda noticed the way his eyes darted to the pillows and barely held back a smile. His shoulders slumped as he seemed to lost the fight with himself and climbed into the wagon. “Okay …” he sighed “but wake me up as soon as you hear anything weird, princess.” 

***

There was a scratching at the outside of the wagon. Since they slept at the edge of a wood, that would not have been enough to wake Twilight up.

No, it was also the loud whiny that Hoofles let out that caused Twilight to sit up ramrod straight in his blankets. 

Asleep in one moment - alarm and tense in the next, adrenaline pushing through him.

His sudden movement had startled Zelda awake as well. The princess had slept with her forehead pressed to his shoulder even though she was supposed to be on guard. 

“Whaswrongg…” Zelda mumbled sleepily as Twilight pushed his blanket aside and grabbed his sword with his right hand, ignoring the pain that laced the movement.

Something screeched as it received a hoof to the face. Twilight jumped out and found their horse and the wagon surrounded by three Lizalfos, wild eyes darting left and right. 

Zelda gasped as she watched how Twilight grabbed his shield, too and banged his sword against it.

“Over here!” he called out, walking backwards and away from the beasts. It seemed to work because the three turned to face him and rushed at him with a frightening speed. Twilight anticipated them, holding his sword with both hands next to his body, his shoulders straight and tense, his body lowered. 

Just as one of the Lizalfos wanted to lash out, Twilight _jumped_ and slashed his blade across all three of their throats in a smooth motion. With a scream, the Lizalfos collapsed in a cloud of black smoke.

“Oh!” Zelda clapped her hands “That was impressive! How-”

“Shh.” 

Zelda snapped her mouth shut and watched how Twilight sheathed his blade and shield. His breath rattled out of his mouth and his dark eyes were fixated on a movement at the edge of the wood. Zelda tried to see what he was seeing, narrowing her eyes until she finally spotted the Black Lizalfos that was creeping along the undergrowth, waiting for its chance to strike. Yellow eyes were glowing in the moonlight.

Twi never left it out of his sight as he bent down and grabbed a little rock and tossed it towards the Lizalfos in an effort to lure it out of hiding. He grimaced briefly at his weak throw, even though he had hit it right in the eye. It snarled at him and finally dashed. Zelda’s head shot back to Twilight, who only stood there, his hands next to his body and watched the Lizalfos charge at him.

“Twilight, it’s coming … draw your sword!” Zelda whispered, urgently. The Lizalfos was only a couple of feet away and Zelda scrambled to get out of the wagon. 

Why wasn’t Twilight doing anything?! Did his hands hurt too much? Was he scared?!

“Twilight!” Zelda called out just as the Black Lizalfos came to his hind legs in front of Twilight and lifted his claw above his head.

Later on, Zelda would still not be able to tell what had happened in that moment.

Something sparked in the moonlight and suddenly, the Black Lizalfos fell back, its body sliced open from his chin all the way down to its stomach. Dark blood dripped from the tip of Twilight’s blade. The blade that he held in his hand. Even though it had been sheathed just a moment ago.

The Lizalfos let out a last, pitiful screech and collapsed into a cloud of black smoke.

Hoofles snorted and shook her mane, trotting over to Zelda and rubbing her head against Zelda’s shoulder. The princess turned to the horse and scrubbed her hands along her neck and threw her mane back.

The silence that fell upon their little camp was only disturbed by Twilight’s ragged breathing. His sword clattered to the ground as he sank on his knees and coughed, his right hand stiff and clawlike, his shoulders shaking.

Zelda furrowed her brows and ran over to him, falling to her knees in front of him. “Twilight! Hey…” she tried to pull him a little, straightening him up so breathing would be easier.

Twilight pushed her away “You were ... “, he panted “you were … supposed to … keep watch. Now-” he coughed again, his voice barely above a whisper. His view was spinning as if he had fought for hours on end and not just for a couple of minutes. 

The adrenaline had faded just as quickly as it had come and now, in the aftermath, his body was protesting his quick and harsh movements by aching all over. He felt his lungs trying to expand with every breath he took without knowing that the damage was so permanent, Twilight felt the deeper he breathed, the more his throat clocked up. His lungs kept on demanding more air, pushing against sore, barely healed rips. Desperately, he tried to steady his breathing but it only went faster by the second.

Soon, black spots danced in front of his vision and he vaguely remembered an incident with Sky, him and Hyrule a couple of weeks ago. 

Sky had woken up from a nightmare, _screaming_ , and usually, Wolfie was enough to calm him down after one of those but this time, Sky had kept on breathing, sucking in more air than he breathed out and Wolfie had went and woken Hyrule up urgently and disappeared, only to return moments later as Twilight and assist Hyrule.

They needed minutes to calm Sky down and later that morning, Hyrule told the others Sky had been hyperventilating after a nightmare.

Twilight thought, that was what was happening to him, too. 

He had never heard that word before, had never known things like this could happen and it was quite literally the worst. He clutched his chest with middle finger and thumb. Zelda had both hands on his shoulders and she was talking to him, but his blood was rushing in his ears and he couldn’t hear her. The black dots were obscuring more and more of his vision and suddenly, he felt himself fall forward and into Zelda’s arms and the muffled noises faded out completely …

***

When he came to, he was laying flat on his back and looked up at the lilac sky. Someone had shoved a blanket under his neck and put a blanket over his body. A headache hammered behind his eyes, as if he had been underwater for a while and had gotten too little air.

Something was clattering next to him, it was a sound he exclusively associated with the way Time’s armor would sound as he moved about camp and he snapped his head towards the sound. Had they come back? Had he shifted worlds?

“Time?!” he croaked and pushed himself into a sitting position.

The clattering stopped and his gaze focused on Zelda, carrying his shield over to the wagon. As she walked, the bottom half of the shield was bouncing off the metal buckle of her belt.

“Twilight!” she called out, dropped the shield unceremoniously and ran over to him. “Thank Hylia, you’re up!” she said and ran a hand through his bangs - Twilight briefly wondered if they were especially touchable since his brothers seemed to like doing it as well - and he pulled his head away from her weakly. The sudden movement had brought the dizziness back and he fell back again.

“You were having so much troubles breathing and I was so scared and you fainted and I didn’t know what to do but you kept on breathing, so that was good, I thought and then I thought you fell asleep, so I put that blanket on you but you were so still and I was wondering if I should put you back on the wagon and go find help, I’m sorry that I couldn’t stay awake, I know I was supposed to be on watch but I’ve never been on watch, I totally underestimated how difficult it could be …”

Ah, the rambling. That was one thing she and Wild had in common. It didn’t happen a lot but Wild would sometimes ramble endlessly if he was upset.

“Princess”, Twilight said and put his hand on her arm. “I’m alright. Have you checked on Hoofles?” he asked and Zelda looked at him with her brows furrowed, her rambling coming to a stuttering halt. 

“H-Hoofles?” she asked, brushing some hair out of her face. She looked at Twilight as if he had lost his mind, which only cause the latter to push the blanket aside and force himself to his feet with some effort. Hoofles was standing next to the wagon, ears twitching and chewing on some apples Zelda had put out for her.

“Yes, Hoofles. I think she was hurt.” he said and slowly made his way over. First of all, he gently rubbed his hand along Hoofles neck and shoulders and the horse greeted him by running her nose over his face and pluck at one of his hair strands. It pricked a little but Twilight knew it was a sign of affection. He ran his hand along her torso until he reached her flank and indeed, there was a gash right in the center. It looked nasty but that seemed to be the worst of it - the look.

“We have to take better care of her. She’s pulling us all across country and the least thing we can do is make sure that she doesn’t get injured because we are being stupid. We need to get some water and clean out the wound and then gather some herbs and make a wet pack for her. And just let her rest for today.” he said sternly, looking at the wound in the dull light of the beginning morning. There were a thousand more things he wanted to say, but he didn’t and snapped his mouth shut, catching Zelda’s startled look.

Before he had known, he had gone full Ilia on her.

He swallowed dryly and looked down, ashamed of his outburst. “My apologies, your highness. I stepped out of line.” he said quietly. 

Zelda blinked a couple of times and reached out for him, shaking her head wildly. “No! By all means, you are right!” she walked up to him and looked at the wounds as well. Luckily, it was just a surface wound. “I will go and collect some herbs and you clean the wound, okay?” she said and Twilight nodded, listing her what she should find. Zelda nodded but just as she wanted to leave, Twilight took her wrist.

“Wait”, he said and Zelda blinked. Together, they walked to the back of the wagon and Twilight rummaged around in his backpack. He held the backpack open awkwardly with his left and picked out things with his right hand. His fingers were still shaking from the strain of holding the sword, pain tickling all the way up into his elbow.

“Here”, he said and handed her a hunting knife, safely stowed away in a brown leather scabbard that had countless flowers stitched on it. “Take this knife. At least you won’t be completely unarmed. Don’t go too far, call for me if you need help.” he said and hesitated, looking at the princess.

He shook his head. “No”, he said, more to himself and retreated the knife again “It’s better if I go. There might still be-”

“Twilight”, Zelda took the knife from him. “Your worry honors you but I’m a princess, not a damsel. I can find some herbs and I will call for you if I come across enemies. You just fainted. If anything, you should rest just as much as Hoofles.” she said in a determined voice and before he could protest, she grabbed a burning log from the campfire she had made and disappeared into the nearby treeline.

With a sigh, Twilight watched her go and leaned against the wagon in an effort to make the dizziness go away. She was right, of course. Zelda wasn’t completely helpless, she had held herself valiantly against the Demise for over a hundred years. He really needed to cut her some slack.

But he also knew that Wild would _kill him_ if anything happened to her. 

He looked at his hands with a low growl of frustration. He could hardly believe that such a small fight had thrown him off so much. That swinging his blade had taken so much of his energy.

_Disgusting._

Staying behind had been a wise decision. Who knew, if he would still be with his brothers, he might have gotten one of them killed because of his own helplessness by now.

Not to mention how winded he had gotten when they had walked up that hill towards Tarrey Town. 

He knew as a hero, he had no room for self doubt and self hate, that the greater good was always more important than oneself. 

But with his hands and body in shambles like it was, he wasn’t even sure he still deserved to call himself a hero.


	3. We can find Shelter and Peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone I hope you had a good couple of days, nice food and very little fights with your family!!!
> 
> also, I do not claim any of the sword fighting explanation in this chapter is legit, i read some wikihow and then fantasy-novel'ed myself through it ;;

* * *

  
Luckily, Hoofles was not putting up much of a fight, so when Zelda returned with a couple of herbs, they could treat her easily. The horse must have realized that she was getting some time off, because as soon as they were done, she trotted over to a rich patch of grass and ate to her heart’s content.

Twilight sat at the campfire, absentmindly chewing on a sandwich as he watched the sun slowly rise above Lake Hylia, feeling still so so tired and worn out from the attack. Zelda sat next to him, eating breakfast in silence. Nature around them was slowly coming to life, just before she had seen a squirrel hastily dash up a little tree. It wasn’t an uncomfortable quiet between the two of them, she thought. 

But, a quiet was still a quiet and Zelda didn’t like it much. She glanced around the camp until her gaze fell on the sword that rested next to Twilight in the grass, unsuspecting. She stood up, easily and grabbed it.

“Princess-” Twilight began as he watched her, a ridiculous sign of alarm flashing in his scarred features. He seemed completely exasperated at someone just grabbing his sacred sword like that.

Zelda had honestly not expected the blade to be this heavy. But then again - she had seen Twilight’s upper arms a couple of times now, so she wondered why she was suprised. She pulled the sword out of the sheath, the handle unfamiliar in her hands, and pointed the gleaming tip at Twilight’s face. “Teach me!” she said, which only caused the hero to stare at her with wide eyes.

“What?”

“Teach me how to sword fight! I failed last night and you were obviously worried about me when I went into the woods. So teach me! So I can defend myself should something like this happen again. I want to learn that jump attack you did last night. It looked very impressive!” 

Twilight wasn’t sure if he heard her right. Teach her? With _his_ sword? It was obviously way too heavy for her and on top of that, he wasn’t sure if a longsword really was the right kind of weapon for someone who would undoubtedly be a nimble fighter.

Zelda was small and agile, something short like a dagger that would allow her to get close to the enemy or something long and light like a rapier, that would allow her to still slice and yet maintain her distance, would be more becoming of her.

“Princess”, he began again, but pushed himself to his feet. Zelda cut him off again “Please! Just some basic techniques! We have time, Hoofles needs to rest anyway!” 

Twilight started but when he saw the determined expression on her face, he let out a ruff sigh and motioned her to move further away from the campfire. 

“Alright”, he said and gingerly took the sword from her again “everything begins with your stance.” he said. Zelda nodded eagerly and observed as Twilight shifted the blade in his right hand, holding it lightly and in front of him. He put his feet apart and lowered his body ever so slightly. “Keep it wide and your body lowered. Your elbows should be close to your body. Point your hips towards your enemy. When you block, put all your weight in your legs so you cannot be moved back, no matter how much they try. Like you’re a rock.” he said and handed Zelda the blade. 

With a nod, Zelda mirrored his stance but held the blade with two hands. Twilight observed her keenly and walked around her once. Then - without warning - he shoved her and of course, Zelda stumbled backwards. She let out a yelp, so surprised by the sudden ‘attack’ that she lost her footing and landed on her butt.

“Steady and strong, princess. Like a rock.” he said and reached for a big branch that had just the right size to use as a makeshift practice weapon.

“Well, you didn’t give me a warning!” Zelda called out, which only caused Twilight to lift his eyebrow “And you think an enemy will?” he asked, which caused Zelda to close her mouth with cheeks reddening with anger and embarassment.

“No … of course not.” she answered and Twilight nodded and reached out to help her up.

“Feet wide apart, weight down.” he said, gently tapping the branch against Zelda’s ankles. Again he walked around her and when he shoved her this time, Zelda seemed to anticipate so. At least she didn’t fall this time and only stumbled. She was a fast learner, that much could Twilight tell. 

He repeated the same action over and over, always starting the shove on other places of her body - her shoulder, her hip, her arm - until finally, she brought the blade up - flat side forward - and tried to swat at him. Twilight quickly retreated his hand and nodded satisfied. 

“That’s it.” He said and switched her the blade for the branch.

“Now. I want you to attack me. Remember to be steady and swing with strength. It’s just a branch, it can’t hurt me. Try to swing up and down.” Zelda nodded and proceeded to swing the stick over her head and bring it down. Twilight blocked her easily. 

“Keep going.” he said when Zelda gave him a questioning look.

And she did. 

By the time the sun was traveling to her highest point in the Sky, Twilight had traded her branch for the sword once more and Zelda was sweating. The swings had been easy with the wooden tool but the sword was an entirely different matter. It was so heavy and she constantly feared it would slip from her damp palms.

By now, she was doing a whole series of slashes in all sorts of directions, all while Twilight would sometimes slap her knees to check if she was still standing strong.

“Haaaah, I don’t understand. It always looked so easy and fast when Link did it!!” she complained as she took a breath and a big swig from her canteen.

“That’s because he is a knight and went to school for it. He had been taught all his life. And he fights the part, too. A knight’s swordsmanship is very different from what I’m teaching you.” Twilight said, non-chalantly and mirrored her motion of having some water from his canteen. Hoofles stood close to the wagon and watched their training with curious eyes. 

"So you aren't t? A knight, I mean?” Zelda eyed him curiously. Surely, Wild had written her about this but she couldn’t remember. Twilight certainly had the build of a knight. Her father’s personal guardian had looked a lot like him. 

Twilight scoffed “Absolutely not.” he said and twisted the canteen in his hand “I’m- I used to be a shepherd and a farmer. Ranch Hand, that’s what Warriors calls me.” he said. Of course, in Zelda’s eyes that made total sense. It explained his animal handling skills and his knowledge about flora and fauna. Twi swallowed dryly and dropped the canteen on the blanket.

“Shall we continue?” he asked and Zelda nodded.

She went through the same motions as before, over and over until she thought she had a good sense of what she was doing and Twilight made to attack her with the stick and had her either block the attacks or parry. The parrying was a little trickier than Zelda had expected.

“We should ask Four to craft you a rapier, it would be a far more suitable blade for your strength.” The sentence was out before Twilight thought about it. He closed his mouth and stepped back as Zelda let her sword down and looked at him with worry reflecting in her eyes.

“Twilight”, she started but he turned away from her and pretend to pick a few stray splinters off the branch.

“Or find a smith that would craft a weapon for the princess.” He said in a tone that sounded more like he was reprimanding himself. Four would have known perfectly what to make for Zelda. Probably with just one look. Twi bit the inside of his cheek in an effort to counter the rush of emotions that was coming at him and felt very exhausted. 

He hated how dependent he had become on his brother’s presences. How reassuring it had become to have them around, to not be forced to be on guard all the time. To know that he could sleep and didn’t have to fear that he would get attacked without warning. 

And he hated how much his heart yearned for them every second they were apart. How the loneliness was clawing at his throat and threatened to scream its way out of him.

Having Zelda with him just wasn’t the same. She didn’t understand him the way Sky or Time did. Of course, she couldn’t. She had never been in his shoes. 

With a deep sigh, he rubbed his eyes. The training had let him get carried away, it reminded him a lot of the sessions he’s had with Wild and Wind. The little sailor had been so incredibly eager to learn how his fellow Links fought that he would more often than not join Twilight and Wild in their workout and training. 

Twilight had learned that Wind was already excellent at the Helm Splitter and the Back Slice and had been absolutely thrilled when Twilight had suggested he taught Wild these two skills. 

It had been hilarious. Wind knew exactly how to execute these attacks but he was terrible at explaining, Wild had not been listening very well and both had get impatient very fast. When Twilight supplied some helpful technical terms for Wind to tell Wild, it had all worked out.

Over the course of their journey, Twilight had taught Wild nearly all of his Hidden Skills. All but one - the Mortal Draw.

And he would keep this skill to himself for as long he could.

“Maybe that’s enough for today.” he said in a gruff voice and discarded the stick before he went to check on Hoofles.

***

By the time dinner came around, Twilights dark mood seems to have been lifted, if only slightly. An hour or two ago, he had taken a small trip to Lake Hylia and caught them some fish. It had honestly been the perfect opportunity to get some time for himself, even though Zelda had been more than respectful by keeping her distance.

As he watched the trouts he had caught get crispier by the minute, he and Zelda filled the time with idle chit chat about nothing important.

" **Heeeeeeeeey!!!!** "

The sudden call made both of them jump to alarm right away. In the distance, just as he exited the Hylia Bridge, they recognized their visitor - the postman. He came running for them, waving both his hands at them.

“ **Mr. Liiiiink! Ms. Zeldaaaa!!** ”

Twilight had no doubt that the Postman could bring a whole room full of chatty, middle-aged aristocracy to a quiet in a matter of seconds. He came to a halt in front of Zelda and Twilight, not the slightest bit out of breath and pulled a thick envelope from his pouch. “I got here a letter for a Mr. Link, Twilight in parentheses”, he said “And for a Ms Zelda.” 

Zelda chuckled and took the letter from him, looking at the senders. She recognized Wild’s clawlike handwriting right away. “It’s from Link.” she said and smiled at Twilight, who seemed to pale a little. Zelda turned back to the Postman and bowed before him. “Thank you so much.” she said.

“I’ll go back and deliver some more letters. I’ll pick up your reply in two days!” he announced, held up two fingers to emphasize his point and before Zelda could agree, he ran off, leaving behind nothing but a dust of cloud.

They sat down around the fire once more and Zelda ran her hand over the edge of the wax seal that held the letter shut. She wanted nothing more than read what Wild was writing, how they were doing, what had happened, but she felt it would cheer Twilight up more if he got to read it so he held the letter out for him to take.

“Read it.” she said and Twilight stared at the letter.

“What?” he stammered.

“Read it. We’ve been wondering for weeks how they are doing. It would only be fair if you get to know first, sort of.” Twilight took the letter from her, hesitantly and broke the seal with a little effort. 

Four or five tightly written pages tumbled out, both sides filled to the brim with words. Twilight unfolded them and the flood of letters and signs on the paper completely overwhelmed him.

Over the time the Links had all learned the differences between their individual hylian letters and had learned to read them, since it wasn’t as diverse as they had thought.

All except for him. 

Twilight stared at the letters and did not recognize one combination of it. He licked his lips and turned one page around but it was all the same. Halfway through, the handwriting changed, that much he could tell.

Zelda looked at him expectantly, eyes bright and curious and Twilight tried his best not to look completely devastated. “So?” she wanted to know and frowned slightly when she noticed his faltering expression.

“I …” Twilight held the papers so tightly that they were crinkling in his grip and he quickly shoved them into Zelda’s hands, a little roughly maybe. “I can’t.” he said.

Might as well get it over with. Except for Time, none of the other Links knew and he intended to keep it that way, but he thought for some reason, he owed Zelda some honesty.

“What do you mean, you can’t?” she asked, confused.

“I can’t read.” Twilight said with a sigh and shoved his hands under his thighs, making himself smaller.

“Oh.” Zelda said and blinked a couple of times. That had been a little unexpected. “Can I … do you mind if I- Why not?” she blurted out because she really didn’t know how else to ask nicely.

Twilight looked to the side, watching the sun treacherously beginning to set over Lake Hylia. Orange light was beginning to glow down on them and color the tree tops golden. 

“When I was a child, the village I lived in was raided by bandits. The oldest were killed and most of the young adults and kids were captured. As they sat up camp, I noticed one of my shackles was lose so I freed myself and ran away in the dead of night. I don’t remember much, just that some time later, I woke up in a little house and a young woman was leaning over me.” he didn’t look at Zelda as he recalled what had happened to him.

“She told me they had found me in the woods, collapsed at the shore of a little stream. She said her husband had carried me in and that I had been very sick for the past couple of days and that my ankle was broken. She asked me a lot of questions about my parents or what had happened to me but I couldn’t answer them. Partly because I was very scared and partly because I had … I thought I had forgotten …” he mumbled and Zelda reached out and touched his shoulder. 

“That sounds terrible …” she whispered.

Twilight pulled his lips into thin line but for once didn’t pull away from her comfort.

“I was about five years old. So I stayed there”, he said “no one came to pick me up so Rusl and Uli kept me and they treated me like a son.” on this, he smiled nostalgically. His smile faded quickly and he pressed his hand to his mouth for a moment. Rusl and Uli. Were they okay?

“I learned to do handiwork all around the village. I fixed the roofs, helped carrying around heavy stuff or took the dogs for a walk. There was another girl in the village, a year younger or so than me. We spent a lot of time together, playing hide-and-seek in the woods or hanging out by the river and caught frogs. It was … we were sort of careless back then. When I was fifteen, I knew how to till and reap a field, knew when was the best moment to harvest the pumpkins, could tell apart good soil from bad and so Fado took me in and taught me how to be a shepherd. Oh and … well Bo taught me how to wrestle.” his tone was fond as he told Zelda about his past.

“Our village was in the middle of a forest. The next town that had a school was Castle Town and that was a five days trip away, if you had a horse.” he continued “Uli would teach us a bit of math and writing our names but all of this wasn’t important. Not really. We needed to know other things. So we were never really taught how to read or write. Until my journey, I never thought it was embarassing not to be able to.” he said.

“Mi- I was made fun of for the lack of reading ability and so I memorized what some words looked like. And I managed to make most people believe I could read, that way.” he said.

Zelda listened to his story quietly, running her hand over the letters in her lap. It was terrible, she thought, that they would treat Twilight poorly because he couldn’t read. It wasn’t important at all, wether you could or not.

“I was quite proud because I could fool the other Links for so long as well. All except Time because I secretely think he is a god and knows everything anyway.” he shrugged and when Zelda chortled out a laugh, he couldn’t help but grin, too.

“I don’t think it’s bad.” Zelda said right away and her heart ached when she saw how Twilight relaxed at her words. Like Twilight, Zelda watched the sun go down and once more, the dragon was rising from the depths of the Lake.

“Tell you what-” she began, carefully “I could … I could teach you how to read. In exchange for the sword lessons?” she suggested, hoping it wouldn’t offend him.

Twilight watched the dragon and seemed to think his answer through. It seemed fair. “Sure.” he said “Why not.”

Zelda let out a little gasp and clapped her hands. “Yes! Thank you!” she smiled and finally took the letters in her hands, looking down it. 

“God, Wild’s writing truly is terrible …”


	4. Shiver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A peak into what the remaining Heroes of Courage are up to.

* * *

_Zelda,_

_Twilight,_

_I hope you are both well. How are Twilight’s injuries? We finally have some time to breath, we’re stuck in some forest and it’s super cold. Not even sure how I can hold the pen but I reallywanted to write you because I’m worried and writing distracts me from freaking out-_

Wild sighed and planted the pen back down on the paper with a little more force than necessary. “I never know what to write.” he complained and watched the light of the campfire make the thick snow all around them glitter. They had switched worlds barely two days after they had left the laboratory behind and had found themselves in the middle of a dense, snow covered forest that no one had ever seen before. Which could only mean one thing: They had landed right in Twilight’s Hyrule.

And that was just Hylia’s humour, right?

Night had fallen on them in a matter of an hour or two and so they had found the nearest clearing and set up camp.

Time sat down next to him and looked down at the paper. “That’s because not much has happened, yet.” he said with a small smile that didn’t quite manage to reach his sad eyes. 

Wild thought that out of all of them, leaving Twilight behind had gotten to Time the most. Over the course of their journey, Time had become sort of a father figure to all of them, but it seemed that he had taken Twilight especially under his wing. And Twilight had taken to him like he had to none other in the group. Not even to Wild.

“I know …” Wild sighed and rolled the pencil over the paper with the palm of his hand. “I’m just so … I’m just so worried. He wasn’t okay when we left and… what if they were attacked and he--” he let go of the writing utensil and carded his hands through his hair.

“I’m sure he is fine. He was doing better when we left. He was standing on his own feet without support. That’s a good sign.” Time said in a firm voice and watched as Warriors and Sky came back, Warriors pulling a sled behind him that was full of firewood. 

“We found this a bit ways in.” Sky said once the sled was illuminated by the orange glow of the campfire. Time took a couple of logs off and stacked them in the fire. 

“Cool! A sled! Warriors’ will you pull me through the forest?” Wind asked with a smirk and knelt down next to Wild to look at the sled more closely. It seemed completely frosted over, as if it had been standing on its previous position for a couple of weeks at least. Wild reached out a gloved hand and brushed alongside of the wood to reveal flowery carvings. “These look like the embroideries on Twilight’s backpack.” he said and Wind leaned closer to them, too.

“Hey, you’re right! These flowers are totally on the straps of his pack.” he grinned and now all of them were leaning in to look at Wild’s findings.

“So that’s got to be his, huh?” Legend concluded and Time leaned his arms on his thighs. He looked up at Warriors “Do you still know where you found it?” he asked, which Warriors answered with a nod. 

“Good, maybe we can backtrack from there and find the village.” he said and pushed himself to his feet “I’m taking first watch. You should rest.” he said. 

***

In the morning, after the breakfast, they dosed the fire and trekked back to the place where Sky and Warriors had found the sled. Stuck in the stump of felled tree, they found an axe with matching carvings in the hilt. Time yanked it out and looked at it in the morning sun. It had a sharp blade and looked well taken care of.

The group looked around the little clearing. “Any signs?” Time asked and heard Legend scoff. 

“Of course not, this is all snowed over. Just when we could really use the wo-” he snapped his mouth shut and quickly turned around to keep looking for more tracks. Wild grimaced at his words and roamed through the undergrowth.

He pushed through some evergreen bushes and the first thing he noticed were hoove prints in the fresh snow. “Over here”, Wild called and straightened up “I found a path with some tracks.” he said. Time appeared at his side and followed the tracks with his eyes. They led in one direction only. Whoever had come had not went back yet.

“Looks like this is our best guess for civilization, huh?” he asked with his hand resting in his hip. Wild nodded and started walking right away, the other Links following close behind.

***

By the time they reached a crossroad, flurries of heavy snow were obscuring their visions. Cold wind bit at the tip of their ears and their fingertips and even though Wild was wearing his Snowquill Set, he could still feel the cold nabbing at his cheeks. 

Wind was wrapped tightly in a thick, woolen coat and thanked the heavens that Wild had insisted on all of them getting a set of winter clothing when they had stumbled upon Time’s Hyrule Castle Town. He really was sitting on the sled with Warriors acting as his horse, but he almost regretted it because he thought walking would keep him warmer. He was huddled closer to Four, who sat next to him. Wind was allowed on the sled because his leg was still acting up and Four had simply plowed down next to him because wandering through the snow had become exhausting to him. He made a mental note to get Warriors something nice for dragging the two of them through the snow like that. 

The odd company was trudging past a snow covered, frozen over gate that led to an equally frozen spring. At least as far as Sky could tell. 

“N-No wonder, T-Twilight has a fr-freakin Ball a-and Chain t-to break i-ice i-if the place is a-always this hecking c-cold.” Legend said through chattering teeth, having his arm hooked with Hyrule. They walked like a set of robin’s, cuddling to each other for warmth. 

“Don’t y-you think this cold is s-super weird?” Sky asked and wiped a couple of snowflakes out of his eyes. He was helping Warriors pull the sled while Time and Wild walked ahead. “It kinda is.” Wild agreed with a huff. Eventually, the path opened on a little clearing with a treehouse.

When he spotted it, Time walked a little slower. Just like their surroundings, the house was covered in thick snow and looked untouched. It rose against the slate gray sky and the roof was barely visible through the thick snow that was coming down. Time felt something like nostalgia pull at the strings of his heart. He was almost sure that this was where Twilight used to live. He guessed the pup had a lot more in common with him than he had first expected. 

“You think that’s his house?” Sky suddenly asked, appearing out of thin air next to him. Wild stood at his other side and looked up to the treehouse as well. Time nodded “It could be. I used to live in a treehouse, too.” he told him and Sky lifted his eyebrows suprised. Time absolutely did not strike him as a … treehouse kind of guy.

The winter around the village seemed a lot colder than in the forest. Their breath came out in dense, white clouds and the water they breathed out frosted over on their scarves. 

Not a single soul was out - not even any of the animals. Aside from the hoof prints in the snow that led to the last house before the path went up a hill, most of the trudged paths in the village were covered in snow. It looked like the villagers tried to keep inside. Several dark wafts of smoke rose from the various chimneys.

The closer they came to the last house, the clearer voices became to them. Several parties seemed to be inside and shouted at each other. Wild hesitated, his gloved hand resting on the doorknob as Wind and Four climbed off the sled. “Should we just … knock?” he asked his brows furrowed.

Listening to the arguments being thrown back and forth, Time was reminded of a Mayor’s Office a lifetime ago and he nodded, walking up the two or three steps of the veranda and gave the door a firm and loud knock. Immediately, the voices inside snapped shut.

“Maybe that’s him!” a female voice said and suddenly, the door was torn open and a gust of snow blew inside. 

“Link!!” 

A young woman stood in the doorframe, wearing a white, woolen dress, thick light brown pants and dark boots. Her pale blonde hair hung in her face. She looked up at Time, her face in a scrutizining grimace as she studied his face, noticed the scars beyond the hood and the strands of blonde hair and her shoulders sagged.

“Oh … you’re not …”

“Who is it, Ilia?” a big, bald man with an impressive mustache that matched Ilias haircolor appeared behind her, dressed in long-sleeved layered clothing in muted colors but with a bright orange patterned belt.

“Strangers, seeking shelter from the cold.” Ilia said and stepped aside to let them in without further questioning. Time bowed in front of her. “Thank you for your kindness.” he said and the bald man looked them up and down as one by one, they marched inside and gathered in the impressively large living room, that seemed to house most of the village members, right now. They seemed to have grouped up because one part was sitting on one side of the room and the other was sitting opposite of them, obviously as they had to have been the one that had fought.

And there, by the fireplace, sat no other than Princess Zelda herself. 

Time stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes met the piercing gray blue eye’s of the princess.

“Your Majesty.”

The other Links spotted her soon enough and when she rose to her feet, dressed in fine silks with an almost glowing white fur coat draped over her shoulders, Warriors and Wild dropped to their knees in front of her. The rest of the Links followed suit, only Time remained standing, merely bowing in front of her.

“Please, rise.” Zelda said. Her voice was suprisingly smoky. She seemed older than most of the Zeldas they had met and had an aura of absolute authority about her. Wind thought she was a bit scary.

“You are not the Link I’m looking for.” she said matter-of-factly as all the Links got to their feet again and spread to the few remaining seats in the room. Time remained standing. “No. But it seems you know who we are.” he said. 

Ilia and the bald man appeared in the living room again, overhearing their small conversation. “Wait, you know where Link is?” she wanted to know and just appeared in Time’s field of view, neverminding the princess.

“He ran off, that’s where he is!” a man suddenly shouted in. He had sort of a rectangle body and a rectangle head.

“Oh! Stop spitting such vile nonsense, Jaggle, why would Link leave us behind in the middle of winter?!” a woman retorted. She held a young girl in her arms and a boy that had her eyes sat next to her and glared at Jaggle.

And thus, the shouting was on again. Zelda closed her eyes at the incoming noise, royal pain visible in her knitted eyebrows and she sat back down on the wooden armchair in front of the fireplace from where she had previously observed the fighting.

“You know how weird he was when he came back, Uli! He would always watch his back, he would mutter to himself as he reaped the fields!”

“I saw him roaming the village at night as if he was looking for monsters!”

“He was just looking out for us! If I recall correctly, _he_ set out with nothing but a sword to save your Beth, Hanch! Not you! Or Jaggle!” Uli jabbed her finger towards the man.

“Then why was he always carrying his stupid backpack when he went out of village! Like he just waited for a chance to leave!” 

“Yeah, you can’t say that’s normal!”

“Who knows what else he keeps secret in that little treehouse of his?! He hasn’t let anyone in since he came back. He changed!”

“Because he saved Hyrule! You can’t blame him for wanting some peace of mind! You don’t want people in your house all the time.”

“What about the smell?! Why the hell does he reek like wild wolf when he comes back from the woods?!”

“There are wolves in the woods!”

“Then what the hell is he doing with them?!”

“ _ENOUGH!_ ” 

The entire room - the big bald man included - fell silent as Ilia shouted and the girl in Uli’s arms started crying. 

“I’ve had enough of your foolish bantering! Link went and saved your children when none of you would step up to it! He endured so many injuries and hardships and of course he came back different, but can you blame him?! You don’t know what he’s been through and you never asked! And now he’s been gone for a month and you _dare_ to accuse him of leaving us behind when he did all he could to help around the village!” 

She jabbed Jaggles chest with her index finger hart, tears burning in the corner of her eyes. 

“He could have been kidnapped, or hurt or sick! He could be lost in the woods and all you care about is your stupid gossip!” she shouted and the bald man put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. Ilia freed herself from his grip. 

“And now that we do have someone that might know what has happened to him, all you do is continue your silly argument!! I don’t want to hear it anymore, I’m so tired of it!!” she downright shouted at them and crossed her arms, glaring the men down.

Time frowned. Twilight’s been gone for a month only? When they’ve been on the road for at least four to five months?

So time did really pass differently for their home countries.

“So?” Zelda asked and it took all her willpower not to sigh. 

Time supposed there was no point in beating around the bush anymore and so he stood up and had all the attention on him immediately. 

In calm and slow words, he told him how they had been brought together to fight some yet unidentified dark entity and how they had been traveling all sorts of different Hyrule’s as they tried to find out who they were supposed to fight. His story came to a halt when he spoke about the last Hyrule they had been sent too and Ilia picked up on the mood change.

“So … so where is Link, then?” she wanted to know in a quiet voice before Time could continue. 

“In the last Hyrule …. in an attempt to save two of us, he was severly injured. He survived but he … requested to stay behind in order to heal.”

Ilia stared at him with her brows furrowed and put her hand to her mouth. “But .. but you’re here now. Why didn’t you bring him? This is home!” Uli demanded to know and stood beside her. Time’s face softened at her rightful inquiry and he bowed his head in a sort of apology.

“Because we cannot control which Hyrule we’ll be transported to next. For all we know he could have been a deadweight for months before we end up here.” Legend said from his place by the fire and Ilia’s head snapped to him. 

“Deadweight?!” she echoed “Exactly _how_ serious were his injuries?!” She didn’t know why she asked that, she wasn’t sure if she really _wanted_ to know. But she asked anyway, because she had to. Because knowing how bad it was would mean they could prepare for when he did come home and needed their help. Time sighed. He should have known this question was coming.

So he told Ilia. And everybody else in the room. The silence that followed was absolutely deafening.

“Poor kid.” someone gruffed and only now, Time noticed the middle aged man that lay on a recliner next to where Uli had been sitting. His leg was wrapped in a thick bandage and propped up on a couple of pillows. He had dirty blond hair and wore a dark grey pullover and light pants. 

He tried to sit up and Uli quickly went to his side and helped him sit up. 

“You left him behind and you have no way of controlling the shifts. He’s stuck in some otherdimensional Hyrule.” the other Links looked at him. His face was grim and he looked Time straight in the eyes.

“So that means we might never see him again?” 

Ilia gasped and whirled around to look at Time, almost desperate. Quickly, the eldest Link shook his head. “No, once we find out how we can shift worlds, we’ll go and fetch him.” he said, never looking away from the man. He felt like he was being tested.

“What if you can’t find out. What if it is something that is completely out of your control?” the man reached for a crutch that was resting next to the recliner and pushed himself to his feet.

“I found him when he was just a lad, stumbling about the forest and treated him like my own ever since. If you come here now and tell me you doomed my son to live in some foreign Hyrule that he doesn’t know and has no way of returning home from, than I’m going to personally hunt you back out into the snow where you can freeze to death.” he announced. Uli gasped “Rusl!” she called out.

Time straightened to his full height and nodded once. “Of course. I understand. But rest assured, Rusl, that Link is just as important to me as he is to you so I will not rest until we found a way to bring him home.” he said.

For a moment, they held eye contact before Time finally looked down and back at Ilia, who stood in front of him. In a reassuring gesture, he put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I know it sounds bad but we left him in good care and he will be alright.” he said. 

Finally, Princess Zelda made herself known again as she stood up. She cleared her throat.

“Well, these are unfortunate turn of events.” she said “I’m afraid I’m going to have to rely on you, then.” she crossed her hands behind her back and Legend looked up at her with a frown, moving closer to the fire.

“Rely on us for what?” he wanted to know and Zelda spared him a brief look.

“As you may have noticed, an unnatural winter took hold of these lands. I came here to ask Link for help in finding out the source, since my knights came up empty. Maybe it has something to do with the Shadow that’s been keeping you on your toes.” 

“Sounds like you just want us to do your dirty work.” Legend grumbled, but this time, Zelda ignored him and instead looked at Time for some sort of confirmation.

“If you would follow me to Hyrule Castle, I can provide you with rations and horses. Of course your endeavor shall not be in vain and I will reward you.” she said.

For some reason, Legend felt like she wouldn’t have rewarded Twilight. 

Time seemed to get the same vibes, but he also knew that they had no real reason not to help her. “Fine”, he said.

  
“What?! Come on, Time, we just got here. Let us warm up first!” Time was suprised to hear Wind, too and he shot the smaller boy a look. 

  
“Of course we will leave in the morning.” Zelda said “Mayor Bo, I would like to take up your offer on staying in your spare room.” she said and turned to the bald man who seemed honestly shocked that he was approached in this whole situation. He bowed quickly and deeply. “Of course, my princess.” he stammered. 

Ilia watched them shuffle off and she turned to the group of Links. “If you want you can stay in Link’s house. It should have enough space for the eight of you.” she said and reached for a long scarf that she wrapped around her throat and her head a couple of times before she put on a thick coat. From a closet, she grabbed several, thick blankets and Warriors quickly went to help her with those.

“I tried to keep his place clean and light the fire once in a while but please don’t expect it to be too cozy.” she said in a muffled voice and craned her neck so she could see the stairs she took down the small veranda. That’s when she spotted the sled. “Oh, you … you found his sled.” she said and simply dropped the blankets on top of it. 

“We went looking for it but couldn’t find it because of the snow.” she told them and didn’t know why she felt the need to fill the silence that had come over the group. While Warriors put the remaining blankets on the sled, she perked up. “Oh, I- I’m so sorry, I never introduced myself. I’m Ilia. Link and I are-”

“Childhood friends!” Wild said with a big smirk. It was the first thing he really said since they came here. “Twilight told me about you! He said you used to play fetch down by the river and you would always scold him about treating Epona wrong. He said you’re the best friend he’s ever had.” If Ilias face hadn’t already been red from the cold, well, she would blush now. 

“O-Oh did he … did he say that …?” she asked and hid in her scarf. She had never questioned Link’s friendship - even when she had lost her memory she had sensed that he was friendly and trustworthy - but to hear it from someone else was nice. Time let out a small smile. She reminded him a lot of Malon. 

Ilia guided them back out of the village and to the treehouse. Getting inside required some effort and a good pounce of Warriors shoulder, but the door sprung open eventually and revealed a dark interior. While Sky and Time set to bring the blankets inside, Ilia walked over to the fireplace and lit it with a few, practised motions. 

Soon, a warm orange glow filled the room and revealed a spartanic, mismatched interior. Handwoven rugs were strewn about, more wooden ladders let to upper floors that held small shelves full of old books. There was a small stove made of stone and a table with two little stools. 

A couple of strings were fastened from wall to wall in a small back room, a wash tub standing underneath. There were no clothes on the line. A trap door seemed to lead to a basement.

Dried herbs and a set of goat horns decorated the walls. Legend looked around and let out a barking laugh.

“God, this place screams Ranchhand. He really sticks to his brand, huh?” he asked and walked over to look at a shelf that was filled with jaws full of preserved vegetables and several kinds of jam. There were also two very cool to the touch wheels of cheese.

“Legend.” Time said in a low voice because Ilia was glaring daggers in his back. 

Sky was just busy setting up all the blankets and their bedrolls around the fire and put his hands in waist. “I like it!” he announced “It’s cozy! And you can really tell he lives here. I was always so curious but he would never really talk about what his place looks like!” Sky said and pulled a book out of a shelf. He was suprised to find that it was a picture book, depicting all sorts of herbs and flowers.

“Come to think of it … he never shared much with us, did he?” Hyrule wondered and sat down on his bedroll, slipping as close to the fire as he could. This kind of weather really wasn’t his cup of tea and Four seemed to agree as he grabbed a blanket, rolled himself into it and sat down next to him. 

Ilia chewed on the inside of her cheek, her hands tugged under her armpits to keep them warm. “He’s like that. Ever since he came back he never … he refuses to tell us what he saw or what happened and he always looked so sad. Especially when it got dark.” she told them. “I was really worried for him for the first couple of weeks. He was obviously injured and he allowed me to help with that but he stayed inside most of the time or took Epona for long rides. But he would never tell me what was on his mind.” she sounded sad about this. 

Most of the time, Ilia wondered just what had happened to Link that would make him close up like that.

She looked up at Time and Wild, the latter currently firing up the stove and setting out all sorts of meats and vegetables, apparently for dinner.

“Has he ever told you anything?” she wanted to know. Time looked at her with a sorrowful expression. “No”; he said “sorry. He keeps his secrets close to his chest.” he said. Ilia gave a slow nod and looked down. “I thought so …” she mumbled and lifted her head to give him a smile. 

“Thank you, though. For being honest about him. I … that’s a lot better than not knowing what has happened to him.” she rubbed her hands over her eyes.

“There is more firewood next to the stove and if you need anything more, you can come and approach me any time.” she said but before the rest could say some more, she rushed out.

“She seemed sweet.” Sky hummed and decided to help Wild with dinner. 

“Can you imagine THAT was Twilight’s Zelda, she was intense!” Wind called out from an upper level. He had apparently found Twilight’s bed. “You think we’re gonna be able to help her?” he asked and Time shrugged.

“No idea. But any lead is better than no lead at all.” he sank down at the table while Warriors dragged some boxes closer so they all could sit. He rubbed his hand over his face and let out a sigh. Knowing nothing better to do, Time pulled his backpack closer and grabbed some paper and the pen Wild had used just a morning ago. Then, he simply began writing down what had happened - of course leaving out the argument the villager’s had.

After dinner, as Wind and Sky were roaming through Twilight’s place and tried to find any ‘dirt’ - as Wind had put it - Wild reached for the papers and read through it. 

“Bummer, you wrote everything down already.” he grumbled and Time let out a small chuckle. “Well then, add anything else.” he said and bumped his shoulder into his.

***

_“... anyway. Tomorrow we will set out to help princess Zelda with the snow problem. She was kind of mean, to be honest, but I remember you mentioned something along the lines._

_I hope that your injuries don’t hurt as much anymore. The scars are going to be bad so if she hasn’t shown you already, you should ask Zelda about the Wonder Rememdy. It would really help you._

_I love your place, by the way. Ilia tried to keep it clean and there are a lot of things here that remind me of you. It makes me miss you. Please, try to write back as soon as soon possible and let us know how you’re doing._

_Yours truly_

_The Heroes of Courage._

_P.S.: Zelda, we promised Tassaren to bring the wagon back. So … if it’s not too much trouble, could you do that for us?”_

Zelda let out an exasperated laugh and showed Twilight all the signatures of the Links. The word was easily recognizeable. As Twilight had listened to Zelda, he had wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his chin atop of it.

“It sounds bad …” he said quietly and Zelda could understand his worry. “I’m sure that whatever is wrong, they are going to figure it out and solve the problem.” she said in a soft voice and Twilight took the letters from her, running his thumb over the words he recognized as Ilia and Rusl. He let out a deep sigh and buried his face in his knees, squeezing his eyes shut.

More than anything, he longed to get back to his Hyrule and _help_ but the pain in his palms reminded him aprubtly why he was still here and not with the others. 

“Let’s write a reply!” Zelda said in hopes that it would cheer him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, guys!!


	5. Sanctuary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Less Hurt, More Comfort!

* * *

In great detail, Zelda wrote the Links about their little roadtrip, how they had basically stolen the wagon but definitely planned to bring it back to Tassaren soon and how Twilight had started to give her sword lessons. Per Twilight’s request, she only wrote that Twi was doing better by the day and that he was looking forward to seeing them again. He didn’t have Zelda write how much he missed them or how he dreamt of them almost every night. As the princess went to sign the letter, Twilight realized he had lost most of the fingers on his ‘writing’ hand and for lack of a signature, put an awkward little Triforce next to Zelda’s name.

“Alright!” Zelda hummed and folded the pages to put them in one of the envelopes she always carried with her. They melted a little wax over the remains of their cooking fire and sealed the letter and Zelda safely put it away in her messenger bag for the Postman to pick it up in two days time. 

“That’s it! I think we can go ahead and move to Lurelin Village. The Postman will surely find us.” she announced and dosed the campfire. 

Twilight agreed and while Zelda began to load their bags and bedrolls back in the wagon, he gathered up Hoofles and put her back in front of the wagon, even though it took some fumbling and effort. But he managed to do it, eventually and pulled the reins over her head and placed them on the seat of the wagon. He pulled himself onto the seat and waited until Zelda was finished. Just a couple of minutes later, the trio set out. 

The road to Lurelin Village took them through a thick forest. The trees had big green leaves and the air was damp and smelled sweet like the exotic fruits that grew on the branches. 

As they passed a particularly low hanging branch, Twilight reached up and picked an oval shaped fruit. It was orange with a red gradient and had a smooth peel. He turned it back and forth in his hand and smelled it tentatively.

Ever since his forced transformation, his senses had been lifted to new heights - almost as if he was now constantly stuck with his wolf senses. At first, it had been completely overwhelming and he was still getting used to the hyper awareness, but he was coming along. So when he put the strange fruit to his nose, the scent of tangy sweetness was almost overwhelming. But- for once it was in a good way. It made his mouth water and he showed the fruit to Zelda.

  
“What’s this?” he wanted to know and Zelda looked over. She had been completely focused on the road, lost in thought and blinked a couple of times.

  
“Oh, it’s a mango! It’s very sweet but you have to peel it because some people - like Link for example - are allergic to the skin.” she said and dug around in one of her bags and produced a little cooking knife. She handed Twilight the reigns and began to peel the mango. 

With one eye on the narrow road that weaved through the forest, Twilight half watched how Zelda peeled away a generous layer of skin, tossing it off the side of the wagon to reveal fruit in a warm orange color. She cut around the stone and handed Twilight a piece. 

Without the peel, the tangy smell was even more intense but the whole fruit was surprisingly soft as Twilight sunk his teeth into it. Mango juice was rushing over his tongue and before he could help himself, he let out a surprised "Mhh!" 

Zelda giggled at his expression and cut some more pieces for him. 

"Its good, right?" She asked with a smile and pushed a piece of mango between her own lips. The mangos fresh from the tree really were the best. "It is!" Twi agreed. 

As they made their way through the forest, he decided to pick some more mangos whenever he could reach them and store them for later.

***

Zelda had not been lying when she had said that Twilight would love Lurelin Village. 

The moment their little wagon crossed the final hill and the seaside village came into view, Twilight could feel his heart floating away.

The trip through the forest had been exhausting because of the hot temperatures. Underneath his tunic and his chainmail, the heat had gathered up and he was glad when he noticed that Zelda seemed to feel the same about the warmth. By the time they had reached Lurelin, they were both covered in sweat and exhaled as the cool ocean breeze hit their face and brought them some relief. 

The sand on top of which most of the wooden huts were built was white and soft under his boots, seagulls cawed overhead and dove into the water from neck breaking heights, surfacing again with their beaks full of fish. 

A couple of kids were playing tag in the shallow waves of the shore or wove sticks around in a playfight. Twilight stood next to Hoofles and started to free her from the harness once more while Zelda was taking care of their commodities. Once the mare was free and he held her by the holster, he looked around and just got to see how a large boat loaded with all sorts of colorful vegetables and fruits docked at one of the landing stages. Two women with wicker baskets had apparently already waited for him and immediately went to snatch the best product before he had even properly secured his boat.

Chatting animatedly amongst each other, they dropped a couple of rupees into a box and sauntered off. A bit away from the landing stages, two or three men stood in the shallows, one just bringing in a net full of fish while the other two held out big baskets to put the fish into. The sun was blasting down, but large palms were offering generous shady patches to hang out in. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Zelda asked next to him and Twilight looked at her and nodded. “It is. But I’m really hot.” he said with a weak laugh and Zelda just nodded fanning herself some air. 

“OH! Me too! Chessica said we can leave Hoofles with the cows behind those two houses!” she said and pointed to a patch of green grass where two or three cows were already grazing on a spacious pasture.

“I’ll take her over.” Twilight said and started walking to where Zelda had pointed. It was on a small hill and the path upwards was well worn but still exhausting to him.

The cows were cute, he thought, with dark grey fur and big horns that were decorated with colorful ribbons and flowers. Big golden bells hung around their necks. 

He found a small gate and opened it, leading Hoofles through and freeing her of the holster. The horse let out a whiny and galloped out into the small field, kicking her legs back in joy. Twilight watched her for a bit as she sniffed the cows and jumped back from them with a snort. 

She acted like she was a foal that just saw a cow for the first time and it occurred to Twilight that maybe she was still young and maybe this really was her first time seeing one of these strange animals that kind of looked like a horse but then again, didn’t. 

He smirked as she pranced around the very unimpressed cows, flicking her tail and when one cow in particular wouldn’t engage at all, she stretched her head forward and let out a loud neigh. Twilight couldn’t help but laugh out loud as she galloped the short distance over to him and pressed her head against his shoulder in protest, snorting once more. “Hoofles, honey, I don’t think they are in the mood to play.” he said apologetically and rubbed his hands through her mane and over her neck. She plucked at his bangs in a playful manner and trotted off again.

He stood for a bit longer and watched her trying to play with the cows before he left her to her own devices.

When he returned, Zelda had put all their bags from the wagon inside to the two soft beds she had rented out and was just done changing when Twilight stepped into the shade of the inn. The walk around the village in his tunic had taken quite some of his strength and so he fell down on the bed with an exhausted sigh. He felt dizzy from the warmth.

Zelda had put on a flowy, long neckholder dress with dark blue flowers embroidered around the hem along with some simple sandals. 

  
“Do you have any lighter clothes?” Zelda asked as she handed him his canteen full of water. Twilight took a couple of swigs and shook his head. “No, I have some at home but it was winter, so they are in some chest in my basement.” he said and ran a hand through his damp bangs. Zelda chewed on her lower lip and put a hand to his shoulder.   
  
“I’ll be right back. Just give me a minute, okay?” she said and rushed out, the fabric billowing behind her.

Twi sat for a moment longer before he gathered his remaining strength and started to unstrap the countless buckles of his gear, letting it drop to the ground without a care. Leather Piece after leather piece scattered down and after he gave his arms another moment of rest, he grabbed the hem of his hero’s tunic and - with some great effort - pulled it over his head. Once he had dropped that to the ground as well, he fell back into the bed with a big sigh and allowed himself to close his eyes. His bones ached from the exhaustion and he cursed inwardly.

The last time he had been out in the heat was when he had trudged through knee high orange sands towards a temple whose mere sight had terrified him to the bone. But at the same time - he had not really been afraid because he hadn’t been alone.

When he had last seen the Arbiter’s Ground, he had left with a shattered heart and even though he had thought about the place and the bridge lost there every day, he had never returned. 

He could see it in front of him, right now, the shattered mirror, all the shards destroyed beyond recognition. Not even one small bit of glass was left for him to gather and keep or to rebuild from. Midna had said goodbye with a nothing but a smile and an empty promise of ‘I will see you later’.

To Link, it didn’t feel like three years ago. It felt like yesterday.

His heart was still raw, aching every night he fell asleep and thought about her. He woke up in the morning and thought about what she was doing, how she was feeling. Did she miss him as much as he missed her? Did she think about him at all?

Why did she have to be so cruel and promise a reunion when she took every chance of him to make it happen?

“Twilight.” a soft voice said and he jerked awake with a little gasp. Zelda hovered above him, a bundle of cloth in one arm, the other resting on his shoulder again. “You were mumbling in your sleep. I got you some clothes, do you need help changing?” she asked him quietly. Twilight was hesitant for a moment but seeing how his arms felt like pudding and after the short (or long?) nap, his head felt like it was wrapped in cotton, he nodded and pushed himself into a sitting position. 

Zelda placed the clothes next to him and put her hands in her waist, looking at the seamless chainmail that was snug on Twilight’s upper body and scratched her chin. “So … where do I open it?” she wanted to know and even though he was tired as heck, Twilight chortled out a laugh and removed the belt around his waist. 

“I can do it myself, give me a moment.” he whispered and ruffed the chainmail around his waist. He leaned forward and started to wiggle his upper body until the iron shirt slipped off his upper body and down on his arms and where it slipped further down into his hands. He put it down carefully and pushed himself up into a sitting position again, his view spinning from being upside down even for just a brief moment.

“Wow”, Zelda said and picked up the heavy piece of armor. She could hardly believe that Twilight wore this all day, even with his injuries underneath. Speaking of them-

She went and helped him with his undershirt and revealed the bandages underneath, some of them a little more loose than before and definitely in need of changing. 

“There is an outdoor bathroom just around the back. We should definitely clean out your wounds and wrap them all up.” she said and Twilight nodded in agreement. Seeing how much the heat got to him, Zelda also helped him pull of his boots and socks that - quite frankly - stank to the high heavens and she put them outside right away. When she returned, Twi had wiggled out of his pants now standing in nothing but his underwear.

Zelda gathered up some more bandages and lotions as well as the clothes and walked close at Twilight’s side as they made the short trip to the bathroom. 

Twilight hated to admit it but he was glad to see that the outdoor shower came with a small wooden stool that he immediately sat down on, leaning with his back against the bamboo fence that surrounded the small place. After testing the water temperature, Zelda rolled up sleeves she didn’t have and started to roll the bandages off Twilight’s upper body, trying her best not to stare at his muscles too much. 

The closer she got to the skin, the messier the bandages became and she cast them aside to wash them later.

  
“Alright, I’ll start now, okay?” she asked when she noticed that Twilight had closed his eyes again. He nodded again and she took it as a sign of trust that he kept his eyes closed and just leaned forward a little. 

Zelda’s heart made a jump. She was glad that Twilight so willingly put himself into her care, without his sharp eyes watching her every movement. She took up a soft washing cloth and turned the faucet on. The water rained down on Twilight in a dense stream and it felt like a little massage. When she had cleaned the wounds - all of them had healed rather nicely and the scars looked alright albeit very spacious and taking up most of his torso - she decided she was going to apply a light layer of bandages once they were done with the shower and went ahead and washed Twilight’s hair, too.

She scrubbed her nails carefully across his scalp and ran her fingers through his hair and she was sure Twilight did not do it on purpose but he relaxed under her hands and let out a rough humming sound. She noticed that his hair had grown a sizeable amount and wondered if he would want to cut it. 

It suited him, kind of. 

The longer, unruly hair made him look mysterious and rugged, like one of the rough warriors she had only read stories about. But then again, she liked men with longer hair. She secretly suspected that was why Link had grown his hair out. It was a cute thought. Just when she was done rinsing out the soap, Twilight’s body began to slowly tilt forward and the motion caused him to startle awake. He had no need to worry, though, because Zelda gently held him by the shoulders. 

“Oh …” he mumbled and Zelda smiled at him gently “It’s alright. I got you.” she said and combed his hair back with her fingers. She turned the shower off and reached for a towel that she used to dry his hair off.

“Sorry”, he said, obviously a little embarrassed but Zelda just shook her head so vehemently that her own hair swept over her face. “Don’t be, I’m happy you feel so safe with me.” she said and brushed her hair behind her ears. Twilight blinked and his dumbfounded expression was almost cute. 

“Yeah.. I guess I do.” he admitted with a small smile and Zelda threw a towel over his head to save him from further embarrassment. Twi grabbed it in an expression of gratitude and hid his face in it as he pretended to dry his hair. Zelda patted his scars dry with a towel and applied the bandages on his torso, hands and arms before she reached for a sturdy comb made out of dark wood that she usually used to tame the mob on Link’s head. 

Twilight’s hair was the total opposite to Link’s. Where Link’s hair was fine and almost silky - if it wasn’t full of little twigs and leaves - Twilight’s hair was thick and dry and hard to get through. 

But Zelda prevailed and was pretty proud of herself when she managed to hold it and swiftly tie it together with a blue ribbon. That way, Twi had the hair out of his neck and a little more out of his face, even though his bangs almost immediately slipped out of the ponytail again. “Thank you.” he said anyway and looked up at Zelda through the strands in his face. 

Zelda smiled at him sweetly and helped him with the rest of the clothes. Finally, he was dressed in soft orange linen shorts and a white sleeveless shirt with a deep V-Neck. The fabric was soft on his skin and a great relief in comparison to his heavy tunic and chainmail. Zelda handed him a pair of simple sandals that he slipped in. They stood up together and made their way back inside, where Twi just straight up sank into bed again. 

He was way too relaxed to have a stroll around town right now and as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.

***

He woke up again when he heard Zelda’s footsteps in the inn. Squeezing his eyes shut, Twilight shifted on top of the thin blanket until he faced what he thought was the entrance and pried his eyes open little by little. The sun was in the process of going down, bathing the room around him in warm, orange light, throwing a pattern on the wooden tiles.

“Hey sleepyhead”, Zelda hummed from her position next to his bed. Twilight looked up at her and noticed that she was holding two wooden bowls. “It’s dinner time. I was going to wake you up because I’m pretty sure you’re going to kill me if I don’t let you eat this paella.” she giggled and stepped back when Twilight pushed himself to his feet and rubbed his hand across his face.

“Whas’ that?” he mumbled and took the bowl from her, sniffing the mixture of rice, vegetables, crabs, fish and chicken that almost had a golden glow in the light of the setting sun. It smelled absolutely fantastic and made his mouth water. Zelda had seen that expression on him before and smiled as she waved him along with her. “Paella!” she said.

They went around the inn to a set of benches and a small ledge that looked out to the landing stages. 

As they sat down on the wooden ledge, their feet dangled just a few inches over the water’s surface.

To their left, at the beach, the town had set up a large pan over a big fire where more of the paella was cooking. The smell of saffron, pepper, garlic and onion wafted through the air, mixed with the intense aroma of fried meats and fish. 

Most of the villagers were gathered around the big pan and chatted amongst each other animatedly. “Wow …” Twilight mumbled, still a little tired, and dug his wooden spoon into his own portion, eager to finally try the food. 

It was unlike anything he had ever tasted before. The mussles had a soft and creamy texture and blended perfectly into the spiced up chicken. Aromatic spices had colored the rice a rich yellow, the garlic and onion mixed flawlessly with the peppers, which had just the perfect roasted aroma. 

Before he even knew it, he had finished the bowl and wanted more. 

Zelda hummed at his face “It’s really good, right? Should we get some more?” she asked. Twi nodded and they stood up together to find a place around the big cast iron pan. It must have weight a ton at least.

After two more helpings, the two were finally satisfied and placed the bowls in big baskets that someone would take to clean the dishes later on. Zelda made a mental note to find out who and help, so they wouldn’t come off as lazy tourists.

Twilight wasn’t in the mood to talk but she noticed that he was sticking close to her as she walked around to have some idle chit-chat with Chessica and Kiana and it occurred to her that maybe Twilight found her presence relaxing?

She looked over her shoulder and found him standing by her side and watching some kids as they ran around the place. His posture was relaxed, his gaze less on guard and his jaw a little less flexed.

When had Twi decided to let down his guard around her, she wondered. It was nice. Maybe it wasn’t really her and just the warm sunlight and the good food but - she liked to think it was because he trusted her more.

Another kid was dashing past them waving a stick around and yelling how he would defeat all the monsters - Zuta, by the tone of caution that Kiana let out - and as fate would have it, promptly tripped over a large root and fell face first into the sand. The boy pushed himself into a sitting position and promptly started wailing at his bleeding knee that he had hit on a small rock. Kiana let out a big sigh but just as she wanted to go, Twilight moved over to kneel in front of the kid. 

“Hey champ, are you okay?”, he asked and Zuta looked at him with big eyes, still sniffling “I hurt my knee!!” he cried out dramatically and Twilight looked down on it. It was barely worth mentioning, a scratch at best but to Zuta it probably felt like the end of the world.

“Ah … that sucks”, he said and Zuta giggled at the curse word. “Yeah! It does!” he agreed and Twi let out a small laugh “But don’t worry, it’s not gonna hurt for long. If you get up and go back to playing, you’ll have forgotten about it by tomorrow.” he said and reached out to wipe some sand and tears off his face. A little clumsily, he dusted off Zuta’s clothes. “But it hurts …” the boy said with a pout and Twi nodded, in all seriousness. 

“Of course it does. But you’re an amazing warrior and amazing warrior’s don’t stop fighting because they hurt their knee now, huh?” he wondered and picked the stick up for the boy to hold it out for him. Still with a little pout, Zuta grabbed it and nodded. “They don’t …” he mumbled.

“There you go”, Twi said and patted his hair. “Hey, want me to show you a cool trick?” he asked and when Zuta nodded, Twilight pushed himself into a standing position.

“Hold your arm out like this”, he said and put his sword arm outstretched to his left. Zuta mirrored his movement. “and now you twist around yourself as fast as you can and hold your arm steady, okay?” he said and performed a quick spin attack for the boy.

Zuta looked at him with big eyes and did as Twilight had done. He swirled around himself and the stick made a swooshing sound and wiped his hair back and forth on his head. The kid started laughing “That’s so cool! Now I’m gonna beat Kinov easily!! Thanks Mister!!” he called out and ran off again, the pain in his knee forgotten.

Twilight watched him run away, a fond smile playing around his lips. He was right back to fighting with his brother again.

“That was very sweet”, Zelda suddenly said, appearing out of nowhere next to him and Twilight blushed, rubbing his hand across his neck and avoiding her gaze. 

“It was nothing …” he mumbled, but the smile wouldn’t leave his face.

***

Lurelin Village was peaceful and - just as Zelda had suspected - exactly what Twilight needed. Over the past three weeks, the salty breeze seemed to have done wonders for his injured lung, the warmth - once accustomed to - had made his scars hurt less and the food. Well, she could tell Twi was beginning to get some of the weight back he had lost over the past weeks.

When he wasn’t sitting at one of the landing stages, eyes trained on the lure he had thrown out early in the morning, he would practise more sword fighting with Zelda at the beach, Zuta and Kinov sometimes joining them and whirling their sticks around with all the seriousness of knights in training. It was either those two options or taking Hoofles for rides along the shallow waves - trying to have her get used to a rider and also get back in the habit of being on horseback again. 

At first, sitting on her had been uncomfortable but the more his wounds had healed properly and the more his strength returned, the easier it had become to get a grip on the horse. 

She wasn’t quite Epona’s size and didn’t response as easily to his aids as his trusted mare, but they were working on it. He didn’t want to teach her much anyway, he just missed riding.

Around the second day of their stay, a merchant had come around carrying all sorts of weapons and goods that Zelda had eyes curiously. “How about this one? It’s pretty!” she had said and lifted up a brilliant white rapier with an interlaced handguard that was light in her hand. Twilight had just shook his head “And that’s all it is.” he had said and had Zelda hold out her hand. He had brought the ‘blade’ down in her palm but it hadn’t even left a dent.

“Just decoration.” Instead, he’s had Zelda buy a simple dagger and a plain rapier for her to try out what she would be able to handle best. He had spent some rupees on a new harness for Hoofles.

It had turned out that a rapier had been a good choice for Zelda, after all. 

Sword training had become a lot easier with it and another merchant that had come by a few days later, had just so happened to carry a couple of books on sword fighting with him that she had bought right away.

So now she was sitting on the landing stage next to Twilight as he was idly watching his lure bob up and down. She was hunched over her books, turning page after page and sometimes attempted to do the pictured motions. 

Just now, she was lifting her arm, eyes focused on the picture, and jabbed her hand forward.

Easily, Twilight leaned his head back “Careful or else you’ll stab my eye out.” he said with no ill intent and Zelda’s head snapped up with a gasp. “Oh! I’m sorry!” she said and put a hand to his shoulder. They sat close to each other, almost so that their thighs where touching and just a while ago, Twilight had sat with his shoulder against Zelda and she had suspected he hadn’t really paid attention to the lure after all and had just dosed.

Zelda rubbed her eyes and noticed something among her books. A tightly bound stack of papers. The notes Four had left her.

The sun was beginning to go down and Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “Are you okay?” she wanted to know, holding the papers in her hand.

“It smells weird”, he said quietly and put his nose into the wind that was slowly picking up. Zelda noticed the tension in the air now and stood up to look past a little island. Thick, dark clouds were brooding at the horizon, steadily moving closer.

“Looks like a storm’s comin’. You kids better pack your stuff and hurry on inside.” Rozel, the village elder, grumbled from his position next to his raft. Twilight nodded and reeled his line in. As careful as ever, he wrapped the rod back in its linen sheet and took some of the books under his other arm. 

As they hurried back to the inn, thick droplets of rain were beginning to splatter down on them. “Ah, I was just about to call out to you!” Chessica said and almost pulled them inside. With a big sigh, Zelda dropped her books and belonging on her bed. “It was such a nice day just a minute ago!” she complained as Twilight went to his own bed and placed the rod against the wall next to his backpack.

Eventually, he and Zelda joined Chessica at the entrance of the inn, watching as more of the villagers secured their belongings and shushed each other in. The wind had picked up rapidly and tossed the raindrops around in an almost hypnotic pattern. Some of the younger palms were bending heavily in the storm. He saw Sebasto on top of the hill, attempting to herd in the cows and couple of sheep that had taken up residence but who were way too shaken to move into the shack.

“I’ll be right back.” Twilight said and before Zelda could protest, he had grabbed a leftover coat from the rags, threw it over his head and rushed out to the pasture. 

“Sebasto!” he called out, already out of breath but noticeably less than three weeks ago. Sebasto whipped his head around when he heard him and waved. “I can’t get the sheep in!” he called out “They’re too scared!” 

“Move to the shack and hold the door open, I’ll handle it!” Twilight called back and scanned the pasture until he spotted Hoofles standing at the gate, ears twitching back and forth but otherwise undisturbed by the noises. Twi rushed over and climbed on the fence to slip into her back and grab a hold of her mane.

Since they didn’t have a saddle for her, Hoofles was used to feel his weight on his back like so and when she felt his thighs pressed into his side, she looked up and started walking.

  
“Alright girl, we have to get them in. I know, sheep are strange and you never herded before but it’s no problem, we’ll do it together.” he told her in a reassuring voice and made her move faster.

Although it was a bit clumsy, it hurt to make his voice loud enough to shout over the storm, Hoofles startled at his voice one or two times and the sheep seemed completely overwhelmed with the situation, their instincts soon kicked in and one by one, Twilight caused all the sheep and the two cows to trot into the shack, coming to a halt in front of Sebasto.He was out of breath and out of sound and soaking wet. “Good job!” Sebasto complimented him and Twilight slipped off Hoofles back to let her go into the shack as well. For a lack of better communication, he showed him a thumbs up. 

“Sebasto!! Twilight!!!” they both turned around when they heard Kiana shouting. She was running at them full speed, her face in a panic “Zuta is still somewhere out there and I can’t find him! Kinov said they were playing down by the bay in the caves but I can’t get in!” she yelled. Alarmed, Sebasto and Twilight exchanged a gaze and started running down the hill again towards the small set of seaside caves the kids sometimes played in because the best shells were washed ashore in there.

A sense of urgency filled Twilight. The rain would steadily fill the caves - not high enough to drown an adult - but a kid like Zuta? Who could hardly swim? 

It was a terrible occasion but actually having something to do, moving his body again, hurrying to do _something_ \- Twilight couldn’t recall the last time he had felt this alive. 

They raced to the caves who were barely five minutes away from the village and bounced inside. “Zuta! It’s your Pops!!” Sebasto called out right away as they moved through the half dark of the cave, rushing waters filling their ears.

Twilight gasped for breath, but forced his mouth shut as they listened in for Zuta, breathing through his nose. 

Soon they heard the boy calling out for his dad between sniffling noises and as they followed the sound, they discovered that a few boulders must have come down in a landslide when the water had started to rise in the caves. He wasn’t hurt but he was also standing knee deep in the muddy water of the newly formed pool. And he was crying his soul out.

“Don’t worry, Zuta, we will get you out!” Sebasto promised and splashed down, trying to reach his son over the rocks blocking the boy’s path. Twilight tried to find a way to get him out but it was way too dark to see properly. Wiping some rainwater off his nose, he hesitated for a moment and closed his eyes.

A pulsating pain shot through his head and made him gasp. What…? That had never happened before…

“Daddy!!” Zuta wailed as a few rocks tumbled to the ground behind him.

Twilight braced himself and closed his eyes again. Once more, pain was pushing against his temples, against his cheeks, his jaw, his _teeth_. It felt as if his whole face was on fire. But he pulled through. 

A moment later, he saw through his eyelids and the cave around him was illuminated by the soft blue glow of his true vision. He jumped down next to Sebasto and moved his hands across the rocks, trying to find some they could move without causing the whole pile to collapse and barring the way to Zuta completely.

“Alright”, he croaked as he found one rock that was glowing softly. Something about his mouth felt weird but he couldn’t tell what it was. “Zuta, come over here, I’ll move this rock so your Pops can get you out!” While he was talking, he felt like his mouth was filled with bones.

Fear and panic rose in his throat. 

What was in his mouth?! What was going on?! 

He heard Zuta splash through the puddle and Sebasto appeared at his side and he knew he had a mammoth task ahead of him, one he wasn’t sure he could handle. But- he had to try. If he didn’t Zuta was going to drown or worse; be crushed by more rocks.

Twilight spat to the side but nothing came out. In an attempt to stop the panic from completely taking over his mind, he forced himself to a kneeling position and tried to get a good grip on the glowing boulder. After a few breaths of anticipation, he began to lift it up - slowly and painfully, the strain pulling at his scars, the pressure on his chest making him gag. And _there was still something in his mouth_.

“Crawl on through, Zuta! You can do it!” Sebasto had his hands outstretched as the boy reluctantly got on his hands and crawled through the murky water, head and shoulders barely peeking out of it. Shaking, Twilight still held the rock up as high as he could.

His whole body screamed at him to stop immediately, a pulsating pain shot down his spine that caused his arms to tremble. His lungs pressed against his ribs, trying to get in as much air as possible. White spots danced in front of Twilight’s eyes but only when Sebasto grabbed Zuta by the arms and dragged him out the rest of the way did Twilight drop the rock with a shout and stumbled back, falling on his ass in the shallow water.

He felt something hot against his side, possibly one of the scars that had broken, his view was spinning and his head- no something _inside his head_ was screaming at him. 

“Thank you …” Sebasto gasped, cradling Zuta in his arms. He stood up and shifted so that his kid was resting in one arm while he used his other to pull Twilight up. “Are you okay? What about your injuries?” he asked, but Twi waved him off and followed him outside.

In the distance, through the storm, Twilight could see someone come running for him, a mob of bright blonde hair telling him it was Zelda. She was shouting something, waving her arms but he couldn’t hear it.

Through the roar of the wind, he could hear something else, a ghastly growl that seemed to come down from the sky. The clouds covered it, but the light was strong enough to dye the thunderclouds in a sick, bloody colour.

Twilight’s hand shot up to his mouth and he felt his teeth, teeth too long for his mouth, poking the skin underneath his lips. Bones in his mouth. _Fangs_. 

_No! No No No No-_

Frantically, he stumbled back and tried to get the burning shadow crystal away from him but the crystal slammed into his forehead with full force and brought him down. As he fell, he could feel the black particles surround him, bending and breaking his bones into new formation, shoving his organs around in his torso until they fit the built of the huge wolf the Blood Moon coerced him into.

Someone screamed his name.

All sounds around him were twice as loud. 

He stared at the waves in front of him and pushed himself into a standing position, staggering on much too big paws.

It all happened against his will. The fear was unbearable.

He threw his head back and let out a shrill and panicked howl, scrambling away from Zelda, from Sebasto, from Zuta. The latter two stared at him in disbelief.

He couldn’t be around them. He would hurt them. 

Zelda watched in horror as Twilight twisted and screamed on the ground, wondered if he even knew he had been screaming like someone had ripped his spine out, wondered if it was always like that and if it was, just how cruel fate was with him.

_Please, Hylia. Help!!_ Zelda thought desperately as she watched Twilight dash down the shore, away from the village, howling in anguish.

  
  
  


Somewhere - worlds away - the Hero of Time fell to his knees unprompted and collapsed into the snow, eyes wide open and glowing golden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did I say less hurt? :D


	6. You are Safe with Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved all the reactions on the last chapter so I couldn't bring myself to let you hanging for too long!! Thank you guys, all your kind words and kudos really keep me going <3<3

* * *

“Time?!” Sky fell to his knees next to their leader and shook his shoulder. “Time?! What’s wrong?! Hey!” he placed his other hand on Time’s left shoulder and looked him up and down, trying to find some sort of injury but they hadn’t been under attack, they had just marched across a snow covered Hyrule Field, returning from Castle Town stocked with supplies and even better winter clothing on their way to Zora’s Domain, as Zelda’s best guess had been checking out the Snow Peak beyond it.

“What’s wrong?!” Legend shouted through the wind but Sky just shrugged “I don’t know, he’s just- he’s not … “ he stammered and suddenly found Wild on his other side, trying to grab Time by the arm and shake him more vehemently. 

But their leader just knelt there in the snow, eyes wide open and glowing golden and he was far, far away …

***

Zelda could hardly keep up with the massive beast that dashed through the wet sand and grass. Wolfie yelped every now and then as his much too big and still injured paws tripped over stones and rocks.

“Twilight!! Wait!!” Zelda yelled but it was barely audible through the storm and probably would have been to no avail. He was in a mad panic, probably scared that he would start attacking people. 

His fear wasn’t quite unfounded, she had to say. Breathless, she watched the wolf that was about Hoofle’s size, with fangs as long as her hand. His howl had sounded terrifying and his steel blue eyes were filled with a feral and dangerous panic. Link had told her about the Malice that had covered Twilight during his first unwanted transformation, how the ghastly black energy had covered every inch of his body and made him look like even more of a monster.

Now, the only thing that seemed to be left of the monster he had been forced into was the size and the teeth. 

Zelda _had_ to help or else he might end up hurting himself again. Or worse, run into a bunch of monsters. 

She saw him stumble over a larger root but catch his footing and continue his dash up a rather steep hill. Her view was getting blurrier by the moment as the rain picked up more and more and she knew if she didn’t keep up with him, she would lose him in the thunderstorm darkness all around them. 

“Twilight!!” she yelled out again but it only strained her voice and caused her heart to pound in a nearly equal panic. 

She wasn’t sure if she wasn’t already crying. 

It was all so _unfair_. 

Over the past couple of weeks, Twilight had made amazing progress. His wounds had healed nicely, his nightmares had gotten less and he had even started smiling more. He had finally started to trust her. Had started to lean on her and now- all of this could be ruined. This forced transformation could traumatize him all over. 

And, by Hylia, she just wanted him to be okay. He deserved a break. He deserved to be fine. 

He was so kind, why did fate have to be so cruel?

***

He ran. 

His fur was soaked in a matter of seconds, rain obscuring his sight. Fear obscuring his every thought. 

He had felt his bones break, his organs shift, his heart moving away from the right place. 

And he had ran. Scared out of his mind that he would lose control over his body again, he had took all his strength and started running away from Lurelin Village, from this safe haven that he didn’t want to ruin for its villagers.

Every step hurt, his body too large for his soul, he felt clumsy and awkward in it. He tripped and slammed against rocks he would usually jump over and all the while he wished--

God he wished Time was here.

He wished Time would come and help him because he _knew_ he couldn’t handle being trapped in a world of pain again. It would break him. For sure this time. 

Tripping over a large root forced him to change his route and suddenly, he pushed his body up a hill, faster and further away from civilization, from potential victims. His lungs screamed in his chest, he forced every breath out of his maw. His obscenely long teeth scraped against the skin under his lips. He didn’t stop when he reached the peak, didn’t bother to really take in his surroundings. He heard the ocean crash ashore to his right, he saw nothing but black clouds and dense, dark rain ahead of him.

Suddenly - or rather finally - one of his paws got caught in a hole in the ground and accompanied by the sickening crack of his wrist, he felt his body do a somersault. 

His head crashed onto the ground roughly, the momentum of his run caused his back to roll over his neck, his hind legs following suit and without a chance of stopping, he barreled down the other side of the hill and as he crashed into the strangely colored sand at the foot, the air was knocked out of him violently and his view cut to black.

***

_White._

The first thing Time registered was white.

White sky, white floor, white fog.

In a sense, it wasn’t much different from where he had been before. Except that here, it wasn’t as freezing cold and he wasn’t afraid his nose would fall of any second. 

As soon as he noticed that he was no longer in the thick winter coating but his regular armor, he knew he was somewhere else. 

Somewhere that felt strangely familiar. As if he had been here before. Or as if he was _going to be here soon_. He suspected it was a feeling no one could quite understand that hadn’t been involved in some sort of time traveling.

In the distance, he could see the shape of a person and frowned. Not only did he wear his regular armor, but he also had his sword and shield with him and so he drew it. The blade hissed as he pulled it from its sheath, the sound echoing around him. But as he walked towards the shape, his steps made no noise.

“Hello?” he called out carefully and abruptly, the shape turned towards him.

“ _Time?!_ ”

The voice that came through nearly made him drop his weapons. Just a moment later, a figure formed in the haze and took up the shape of no other than-

“ _Twilight_?”

Undoubtedly - right in front of him was his Pup. Dressed down in a white shirt and orange pants, arms still bandaged all the way to his shoulders. Scarred face, shaggy hair, eyes wide in terror. “Time …” Twilight breathed and ran, crashing into him and wrapping his arms tightly around his middle. “You’re here.” he whispered, his face pressed into Time’s chest.

Confused, Time did drop his blade and shield and fold his arms around him. Whatever was going on, whatever they were, it looked like Hylia had called him to help Twilight. That was maybe the only time he would allow her to do that.

“Of course I am.” he said.

***

As Zelda arrived at the top of the hill, she just saw Twilight fall. “No!” she called out, uselessly stretching her arms out as if she could hold him but they were still too far apart. 

The Blood Moon did not break through the thick clouds, but it colored the rain red and dreadfully made it look like it was pouring blood from the sky. 

The white sand of the beach had a terrible, orange color. Twilight came to a violent halt at the foot of the hill, sand flying everywhere and then the wolf was motionless. 

“No … no no no …” Zelda whispered. Her legs hurt from the sudden sprint she had broken into and for a moment, her body refused to move forward, her feet aching in protest. 

“Come on …” she said through grit teeth and slapped her thighs lightly with her palms and finally walked on, albeit a lot slower than before.

Halfway down the hill, she stopped again, her gaze fixated on Twilight’s prone form in the sand. 

Seemingly out of a wave of a rain stepped a bright golden wolf with a sharp red eye. It had an almost ethereal glow about it as it moved until it stood over Twilight, brushing its nose through the other wolf’s fur, nuzzling him with a sorrowful expression.

Zelda wasn’t sure if she should move, if she should interrupt, for all she could tell the Golden Wolf seemed friendly. It nudged Twilight again and let out a low whine that Zelda could hear clearly through the storm. Suddenly, its head shot up and glared to the right. It bared its teeth at something obscured from Zelda’s view and suddenly shot forward with a growl.

“Ah …” Zelda heard her own voice say and she suddenly ran forward to kneel down next to Twilight, frantically running her hand through his fur until she found his pulse. When she found it there, erratic but there - she finally looked to the side and saw the Golden Wolf tearing its way through a couple of Black and Blue Lizalfos that had come forward through the storm and had went to attack them. 

With her hands resting on Twilight’s shoulder, she watched the Golden Wolf fight the Lizalfos. It tore through the monster with righteous fury, never letting any of them come remotely close to Zelda and Twilight and only ever stopped when the last monster came undone in a cloud of black smoke.

At once, an eerie silence fell on the beach, only the roaring of the storm and the steady thrumming of the rain on sand and water filling their ears. The Golden Wolf turned back around and when it spotted Zelda, it narrowed its eye and carefully came closer.

Zelda was torn between jumping up and let him protect Twilight or stay right where she was and stand her ground against the … the spirit?

As she looked at him more closely, something clicked in her brain but she didn’t know how she made this connection. “.... Time …?” she asked quietly and the Golden Wolf lifted his head. He nodded with a snort and trotted over to the pair, taking place on Twilight’s other side. 

He shoved his head a little more forcefully into his side but it seemed that his fall down the hill had completely knocked Twilight out. His breathing was labored, the wrist of his left paw looked swollen.

The Golden Wolf huffed and suddenly bit into the flexible skin in Twilight’s neck. With surprising strength, he hauled him up and swiftly moved his body underneath before he could fall back into the sand. Zelda watched in disbelief as the unconscious wolf limply hung on the back of his mentor and let out a little gasp when the Golden Wolf suddenly jerked his body upwards and Twilight slipped in position so that he was draped over him like he wore a pelt instead of another wolf.

Twilight’s head hung loosely on a golden shoulder and the Wolf looked at Zelda then, demanding her to lead the way to safety.

“O-Oh … right.” she said and got to her feet. She didn’t bother trying to wipe the wet sand off her shins and knees and instead started to walk ahead and back up the hill. 

***

As soon as Lurelin Village came back into view, the Golden Wolf stopped as Twilight began to wiggle on his back. The other had finally woken up and dropped into the sand next to Time with a yelp.

The Golden Wolf nosed him into a standing position and Twilight nudged towards the caves they had previously saved Zuta from. The Blood Moon was still high in the sky. By Twilight’s request, they moved into the cave where they found a relatively dry spot to sit and rest.

With his left paw lifted, the limp towards the little cave nearly drained Twilight of all of his energy and he fell to his stomach with a huff. His legs were shaking from the rough sprint he had forced his body to and so placed his head between his legs and closed his eyes. With the Golden Wolf next to him, he seemed significantly calmer but Zelda swore she could still hear his heart pounding.

Hesitantly, she reached out and brushed her palm over his muzzle. “It’s going to be alright …” she said quietly. “See? Time is here. Nothing will happen to you.” she added and as if to confirm her words, the Golden Wolf laid down next to him and pawed at Twilight until he turned on his side and rested his head half on the Golden Wolf’s chest and half on his leg. 

In turn, he placed his leg on Twilight’s side and rested his head on Twilight’s neck, creating a big cuddle pile. For a brief moment, Twilight squirmed in his hold but when the Golden Wolf tugged at his ear, gave up and just let out a defeated sigh. 

Zelda giggled. Together, they looked like the perfect embodiment of light and darkness, two wolves existing in perfect harmony.

Unknowingly, she had wrapped her arms around her shoulders and tried to shake off the little shivers that ran through her body. It was chilly in here. Her actions did not go unnoticed by the Wolf and so he lifted his head again and motioned to his other side. Surprised, Zelda pointed at her own nose with her finger and the Wolf just nodded once more.

Although she felt a little weird doing so, she crawled over and pressed herself into his side. He was warm - like the sun that had constantly shone down on them while they had stayed in Lurelin Village. She rested her head against his fur and felt her exhaustion getting the best of her.

***

“I’m scared.”

“I know, but trust me. You’re going to be alright.” Time said in a reassuring voice. Having nothing better to do in their shared mind, they had sat down and watched the wafts of fog drift across Hyrule Castle in the distance. Even though Twilight and Time were the same size, Twilight had sat between Time’s leg and had somehow slouched down far enough for Time to wrap his arms around his shoulders and rest his chin on top of Twilight’s hair.

It was rare for Twilight to be this … needy. 

He would never seek comfort in such an obvious way, would never come right out and cuddle. Never as a human. Most of the times, he would never even voice when he was feeling sad or was injured. He would make sure that his pack was alright and always placed himself at the bottom of the checklist. The thought of requesting physical comfort never seemed to cross his mind.

Maybe that’s why he did it so often as Wolfie. Because it was easier that way and he didn’t have to answer any embarrassing questions. 

Time’s heart felt heavy as he wondered if this would stop now. Now that they knew that Wolfie and Twilight were one and the same, would Twilight shy away from seeking affection like he had done as Wolfie?

Would Twilight ever even transform back into Wolfie? 

He looked down on his pup who had his eyes closed and gently brushed his hand through his hair. When he had met him, he had looked scared out of his mind. He had never seen such an expression on his face before - such pure and unadulterated terror had almost scared him too. 

Twilight sighed from his gentle caress and Time wanted to kick himself. Leaving him behind had been a bad decision. They were _foolish_ to think that he could not get possessed again, that the Blood Moon was a one time occurence. Their naivete had caused his pup nothing but pain and heartbreak. Of course the Blood Moon had risen once more and of course it had once more forced Twilight into something he didn’t want to be. He tightened his grip around him, curling over him in a protective manner and squeezed his eyes shut. The sudden movement made Twilight look up.

“Time …?” he whispered confused. 

“I’m sorry”, Time said in a shaky voice. “You trusted our judgement. I promised you would be alright. We were all stupid, we should have guessed that the Blood Moon would come back and that the same things could happen again. We should have stayed with you until you were better…”

“But … it was my choice.” 

On this, Time opened his eyes again and lifted himself up, looking down at Twilight who had shifted in their embrace to look up at him, his expression serious.

“Staying behind, you going without me. It was my choice. I suggested it. And I had fully expected you to protest more and was happy when you didn’t. Because you gave me control over my situation and I’m eternally grateful that you did. So please, _please_ don’t be sorry. You came when I needed you most. That’s more than I could ask for.” it was the most he had talked in days and even though this was a spiritual plane, his throat ached from the strain. He wondered if his hurt really was this deep.

“You’re too kind.” Time whispered and Twilight let out a small little laugh “You’re one to talk. Look at you all choked up over little old me.” he said and Time sat back with a deep sigh, shaking his head slightly.

“I think I have to go.” he said. Twilight nodded. He felt it too. Time’s grip around him was loosening, his warmth was fading and he felt like he was being pulled away.

“Take care of yourself, Pup. We miss you.”

“I miss you too.” Twilight said but by the time he had finished, Time’s form had completely faded into gold dust that gently rained to the ground around him. Twilight sat where they had been for a couple more minutes, his eyelids growing heavier by the moment until his view, too, faded to white …

***

When Time came to, the first thing he noticed was warmth. Several blankets were draped over him and he stared at the canvas ceiling of … a tent? He blinked a couple of times and pushed himself into a sitting position.

“Holy crap! Guys, he’s back!” Four called out and appeared in his field of vision, an anxious expression on his face. Wild appeared on his other side, his hand on his shoulder. “Time? What happened? Are you alright?” he wanted to know and Time needed a moment to gather himself. All the other Links were in the tent with him, blankets wrapped around them, Sky was nursing a bowl of stew in his hands in order to keep warm.

Legend and Hyrule were huddled under one blanket and Time had to look twice to spot Wind’s head in their middle, buried as deep into his own blanket as he could, huddling for warmth in the space between Legend and Hyrule. He had his woolen hat pulled down almost all the way to his eyebrows.

“I don’t … tell me what happened to me first?” Time wanted to know and looked over to Warriors, who sat next to Sky.

“Not quite sure”, Sky said “we were just hiking across Hyrule Field when you suddenly collapsed to your knees. Your eyes had a weird golden glow and you were … there, I guess, but your mind was totally somewhere else. We tried to wake you up several times but you were none responsive and we could barely move you into a lying position. So we set up the tent around you and waited. That was yesterday afternoon. I think it’s about noon now?”

Time stared at him, dumbfounded. He had been out for nearly a day?! When he had spent five hours at best with Twilight? That was just … 

He let out a big sigh. 

Really, he should know better than to question the way time worked when magic, goddesses and spirits were involved.

“So? What happened?” Wild wanted to know. He leaned forward and Time looked at him. Coincidentally, his gaze fell onto the wooden pendant that dangled around Wild’s neck. The one that matched his. The one that had matched the one around Twilight’s neck.

Should he tell them the truth? That Twilight was not doing as well as his letter had made them believe, that he had transformed against his will, that he had been scared beyond belief? That Twilight’s throat was so scarred he could barely raise his voice without hurting himself. 

Wild wouldn’t be able to handle it. He knew the Cub would completely lose his focus and demand to find a way back to Twilight as soon as they could. And most importantly, he would continue to blame himself for what happened.

“I had a vision”, so he said instead. Warriors eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “A vision?” he echoed and Time nodded.

“I saw Twilight. He was with Wild's Zelda at some sort of beach. They were fishing. He looked well.” Time said, no nervousness in his voice, his hands easily resting in his lap. He could lie. It was a skill he had honed over the years.

Wild’s face relaxed immediately, glad to hear the good news. Given how long he was sometimes out when a memory returned to him, he didn’t question that Time had blacked out for so long. 

“That’s good news. Thank Hylia he is doing well.” Sky said and a murmur of agreement went through the cave. Wind asked for some more details about the beach and as soon as Time had listed some, Wild recognized that it had to be Lurelin Village and launched into an even more detailed description of his second favourite place in all of Hyrule and told his favourite stories of the sea side town. Time dared to relax. Not telling them what had happened was the right choice.

If Twilight wasn’t here, then he would make sure to protect the pack.

***

When Twilight came to, he saw the wooden ceiling of Chessica’s inn. Warm sunlight was filtering through the blinds, drawing parallel patterns on the floor, the blanket that was covering him and his face.

The second thing he saw was a head of blond hair, held out of a face with several bobby pins. Zelda was bent over some lose papers strewn about her on the ground she was sitting on next to Twilight’s bed.

“Zelda …?” his voice came out as a rough cough more than an actual name, his throat dry like sandpaper. But Zelda heard him and her head shot up.

“Twilight! You’re up!” she yelped, dropped the papers to the ground and reached for a glass of water that stood next to his bed. Twilight took it from her gingerly and noticed that his left hand was wrapped in a thick bandage. Hot pain pulsated through it and made him hiss. “How are you feeling?” Zelda wanted to know and put the back of her hand against his forehead. “Your fever is down, thank Hylia.” she whispered and Twilight put the glass aside.

“I feel like Hoofles ran over my head several times.” he mumbled, pulled his knees in and rested his forehead against it. His hand moved to his mouth and felt along his lips. Same scars, scratches on his chin. Regular teeth.

“How long was I out?” he wanted to know and finally sat up a little more, looking at Zelda then. “A day and a half”, she said. “How … how much do you remember?” she asked a little more quietly.

“Everything.” Twilight said right away. He wasn’t sure if he should be glad about it or not. 

Having been able to see Time again had been amazing and had soothed his soul in a way he knew no other of his brothers could but waking up and knowing that once more, they were worlds apart tore that soothing feeling apart again and left him with a gaping longing that was unlike anything he had felt before.

Zelda noticed his devastated expression and it was as she had feared. They were back to square one. Hesitantly, she reached out and brushed some of his dirty blonde hair behind his ear and was surprised when she found that he was leaning into the touch with his eyes closed.

Well. Maybe not square one.

“Sebasto and Zuta … did they say anything?” he wanted to know quietly, even though he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. When Zelda pulled her hand back, he missed her warmth.

“Sebasto actually came back for us.” she said, which caused Twilight to look at her surprised. “He found us in the cave. I couldn’t even lift you up and was starting to get desperate because your fever was so high and I knew I had to get you out of there, when he appeared right there. He said, he didn’t care if you were a werewolf or a lynell, there had to be something very good in you if you went out of your way to save his kid. So he helped carrying you back.”

“Oh …” Twilight breathed, his heart pounding in his throat. He made a mental note to thank Sebasto profoundly as soon as he felt like a regular person and not like he had been in a wild hog’s stampede. That was a feeling he was all too familiar with.

“Yeah.” Zelda said with a nod and a smile, clearly able to read Twilight’s thoughts. She let out a big sigh, her shoulders slumping down.

“Ahh! I’m so glad to you’re up again. You really had me worried. I’m sorry that we didn’t think about the Blood Moon anytime sooner. We have to come up with a solution about that. Do you think it would help if we just keep that black crystal locked away? I took it off you when you returned to your human form. _That_ , by the way, sounded absolutely terrible! Like your bones were breaking and shifting around, does it always sound like that when you transform? Does it hurt? Oh- you don’t- I’m sorry that was such an insensitive question, I shouldn’t have asked, I’m so sorry-” her mumbling was abruptly cut off as Twilight gently tugged on her wrist and pulled her into an all enveloping hug.

It felt like all breath was pressed from her lung but in a gentle way that made her let out a surprised ‘Oh’ as well.

His chest was warm, she could hear his heart beating and his breath brush over her neck as he placed his chin on her shoulder and closed his eyes and he just held her. Zelda couldn’t remember a last time a hug had ever surrounded her so perfectly, shielding her from everything around her. His strong arms were wrapped around her shoulder and her back as he held her close.

“ _Thank you_ ”, Twilight rasped into her ear, his voice sounding exhausted and watery. “For coming after me. For not giving up on me.”

Zelda swallowed dryly and squeezed her eyes shut, lest tears were going to spill from them. Instead, she brought her arms up and held onto his shoulders, hiding her face in them. 

“Of course.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SIKE IT WAS COMFORT ALL ALONG!  
> I had you fooled, ha ha!
> 
> I love boys being touchy and display physical affection and you can pry Twilight being a secret cuddler from my cold, dead hands!


	7. Glow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not all that satisfied with this chapter but I also didn't know how to end it, so here is that
> 
> I think next chapter will be the last!
> 
> Also I am so fucking bad at chapter names....

* * *

It seemed that after all, Sebasto had told no one what had happened to Twilight. And when the young man walked up to him just on the next morning, Sebasto waved him off. “You helped save my kid. I told the princess, and I’ll tell you again, it doesn’t matter who or what you are. You helped, that’s the most important thing.” 

A rare smile spread across Twilight’s features. “Thank you.” he said and thought about hugging Sebasto, but the fisherman took that decision from him as he pulled him close and squeezed him for a short moment. 

“Now scramble and catch some good fish for dinner. My wife said you’re invited but you can still make yourself useful.” he gruffed and shushed him off. Twilight nodded and for some reason, the smile would not disappear.

So when he returned to the inn to fetch his fishing gear, Zelda let out a giggle when she saw his face and noticed that he was grabbing his fishing rod. “Hey”, she jumped up and produced something that looked like a large bamboo stick from underneath her bed. “I found this a bit way out of the village a couple of days ago. You showed me how to sword fight, maybe you can show me how to make a rod, too?”

Surprised, Twilight looked at his own rod and the bamboo-stick in Zelda’s hand. He had honestly not expected her to show any interested in the whole fishing business, as she had mostly just sat aside and read her books. “Uh… of course.” he said and rummaged around in his back until he had found a small leather pouch that contained spare fishing lines, hooks and sinkers. Zelda cheered and when he had gathered his materials, they went outside and sat down on their favourite wooden landing behind the inn.

They spent the next hour getting the wooden bamboo in shape. Twilight’s hands were too stiff to really execute the necessary motions - something that hurt him a lot more than he had expected - but he showed Zelda anyway how to run the fishing line along the length of the pole, down to the end. “That way, it can bend all the way through when you actually have a fish on your hook and it prevents the line from snapping”, he explained in a calm voice. 

Zelda was very focused as she tied the line in place where he ordered her to and lifted it up when it was done, happy with her result. “It almost looks like yours!” she smiled and Twilight nodded, resting his hands on his thighs for a moment.

Knotting the tie to the pole had been a wispy task and had forced his stiff fingers to move in a way they no longer really could. He swallowed drly and rubbed his thumb across his palm in a practised motion. 

“It looks good. Now chose a hook and sinker or a lure and you’re good to go.” he said and pulled the little pouch close for Zelda to chose. She leaned over his collection and picked an ordinary hook that she swiftly tied to the long end of her line. “What’s the difference?” she wanted to know as she shifted some colorful lures aside. 

“Well a lure is more colorful and attracts all sort of fish but a sinker lets your hook sink deeper and helps you reel in the fish better.” 

“Hm …”

Zelda picked out a pink lure and attached it to her line. And then, despite herself, she even reached into the small bucket full of worms that stood on the landing and- 

“Do I … do I pierce the poor worm on it?” she asked but by the time the sentence had come out of her, Twilight had already taken that task from her.

“There you go”, he said with a small smile. “Oh thank Hylia ... “ she whispered under her breath and stood up. Her movement were a little stiff as she threw the hook out and it plopped into the water. 

And then it was a waiting game. 

One that Twilight didn’t mind much because it was nice to just wind down, let his thoughts wander as he watched the lure bob up and down. Sometimes he thought about the kids, sometimes he thought about his next step and after his adventure, when he went fishing, most of the time he had went at dawn and had let his thoughts stray to Midna. 

Ah… he hadn’t thought about that name in … weeks. Slowly, his hand wandered up to his chest, where the shadow crystal used to be. After the last Blood Moon, he and Zelda had decided to put the shadow crystal in the depths of his backpack and not pick it up again while he was here in this Hyrule. 

Instead, he felt the wooden pendant that lay cold against his skin and he swallowed dryly. 

Seeing Time again had been a curse and blessing all at once. It just reminded him all over again how much he missed his brothers and how he thought about them day in and day out. He kept wondering what they were doing, if they were injured. 

That they had gone to his Hyrule and had met Ilia - oh Twilight would have loved to introduce Wild to her. They could have talked about their memory loss and he knew they would have gotten along well.

An all that snow? That it still prevailed and even the princess had come out? He longed to be with them. It was so easy to get lost in his Hyrule, especially on Snow Peak. With a little groan, he buried his hands in his wrapped up hands. The Wonder Remedy was still working and Twilight found it was easier to look at them when they were bound in the light blue bandage Zelda would meticulously wrap his hands in. It was nice, not to see the scars. Just feel them. It made it easier to pretend that the pain would fade eventually. 

He lifted himself up again and looked up at Zelda, who had her face scrunched up.

“So when is one gonna bite?” she asked and Twilight could hardly fight the laugh that burst out of his throat. Her face was just … cute. It reminded him of Ilia who had about the same opinion about fishing than Zelda seemed to have. 

“What?! Why are you laughing, I’m serious! How long is it going to take?” she wanted to know exasperated and Twilight laughed again. “I don’t know, Princess. Any minute now or in an hour.” 

Zelda let out a groan and fell down next to him. “I don’t get it. You never have to wait that long!” she complained, which caused Twilight to shrug. “Maybe it’s just my talent.” he smirked and finally mirrored her and threw out his own fishing rod.

The waters were slow and hardly any fish seemed to be out. Once more, Twilight just watched his lure bob up and down, lost in thought and Zelda threatened to fall asleep any minute now. That all changed when she suddenly felt something pull at her hook and rocked her into action right away. “Twilight!! Something is biting!!” she called out and jumped to her feet.

Twilight pulled his own fishing rod out quickly and jumped to help her, because whatever fish was hooked was putting up quite a fight. “It’s got to be a big one!!” Zelda yelled. Twilight placed his hands over hers and together, they yanked the line out of the water and the fish was thrown upwards against the light of the sun. It was an eel, possibly from the little cave underneath the landing.

Zelda squealed as the sudden loss of counterweight threw her down into the grass and Twilight made a jump forward and caught the winding and struggling eel mid-air.

To his utter suprise, a spark bit into his hands and he let out a loud “OW!” as he dropped the flopping and twisting animal on the wooden landing. The surprises were not letting up because in the aftermath of the shock, his right hand moved a lot easier, as if the natural electricity of the eel had loosened up his muscles.

“What happened?! Twilight, it’s getting away!!” Zelda yelped - for some reason, this was the most exciting thing that happened to her in the last weeks - and she found herself diving for the fish as well, only to yelp when she was shocked too. “Ow!! Is that an electric eel!? Ah, no!!” just as she wondered about it, the eel had wound itself off the landing and back into the water and Zelda tried to grab it and would have almost fallen headfirst into the water, hadn’t Twilight made a jump for her in the last moment and grabbed her by the knees of all things. 

It sure made for a strange scene, the way Zelda was dangling off the landing and Twilight standing behind her and holding her down. It took some effort but he managed to pull her up and coughed from the effort.

“Aww… it got away …” she mumbled. In the end, she couldn’t help but laugh and swipe the hair out of her face, before she turned her attention to Twilight, who looked at his hand in wide-eyed wonder. “Hey, you okay?” she asked and Twi nodded.

“Yeah… the shock it just- look.” he reached his hand out for Zelda to see and stretched his fingers, spreading them far apart. He made a fist and repeated the motion of spreading his fingers again with relative ease. He hadn’t been able to do that since he had gotten back into his normal body, back in Akkala.

“Oh! That’s amazing! Are you saying the electric shock snapped your muscles back into motion?!” she wanted to know and scrambled over to look at his hand. The bandages were wet and a little charred but he didn’t seem to be hurt.

“Of course that makes sense since our brain sends out miniscule electric impulses to make our muscles work, as well. I did see Link use some electric arrows, that power has to come from something. I remember he told me he got the most electric arrows from a lynel lair next to Zora’s Domain, now we can’t go out hunting Lynels like that now, can we, but maybe we can buy some electric arrows somewhere and I can pick them apart. I think Four’s notes might come in handy too and-”

“Princess.”

Zelda’s head shot up from her mumbling and she blushed furiously. “Sorry! This just really gave me a boost for something I’ve been working on for a while! I have to write it down super quick, I’ll be right back!” she said and jumped to her feet before she ran inside and figuratevily left Twilight in the dust. 

The young man blinked a couple of times and shrugged, before he gathered up Zelda’s fishing rod and put it aside carefully and threw his own line out again.

***

That night, they had a great Hyrule Bass with Zuta’s family and even though Twilight assured her over and over again that he was full, Kiana insisted that he had a second helping of dessert for saving her little son. 

A bit after midnight, Zelda and Twilight returned to the inn. As they were getting ready to settle in, Zelda pulled out her notes again and spread them on the bed in front of her.

“Hey, Twilight”, she said quietly and Twi looked over as he tried to pull the ribbon out of his messy hair. “Hm?” he replied and Zelda seemed to need a moment to gather some courage for her next sentence.

“If I … if I said I had an idea on how to replace your finger’s and help your hand, too. Would you … would you want to?” she wanted to know and Twi narrowed his eyes in surprise.

“You can …?” his voice barely rose above a whisper, as if he was scared that saying it out loud would make Zelda change her mind. Zelda looked up from her notes and gathered them all up to sit down on Twilight’s bed, right next to him, and spread the notes on his bed. 

“I definetly have an idea, the problem is just that it’s … something never done before.” she said “And I … I’m fairly certain that with Robbie’s and Purah’s help we could build the parts but I’m not sure if … if we can really find a way to attach it to your hand. I think I have an idea but it might also be very risky.” she showed Twilight some sketches that he didn’t understand in the least and even went into lengthy explanation, something about nerve endes connecting with the cables inside the  _ prosthetics _ ? 

“Zelda”, he said quietly in the middle of her rambling and placed his hand on her notes. It caused her to look up at him and was momentarily stricken by the way his steel blue eyes shimmered in the bright light of the full moon as he looked at her with… determination.

“If you say this can work. If you really believe it, then we’ll do it. I trust you.” 

Zelda looked at him, breathless for a moment and pushed her notes aside to throw her arms around his neck and hug him.

“Thank you.”

***

On the following morning, they put Hoofles before the wagon again and set out to leave Lurelin Village after staying there for nearly a month and a half. Kiana gave them some rations for the way and almost half of the village waved them goodbye.

Twilight looked through the back of the wagon, trying to remember the way the sun danced on the surface of the blue ocean, how Zuta and Sebasto waved after them. He tried to memorize the smell of the breeze and the sound of the wind rushing through the palms.

  
“I’m gonna miss this place.” he gruffed and Zelda nodded.

“Me too.” she smiled and patted his arm.

It felt strange to be back in his chainmal and tunic again. The pelt around his shoulders was snug and warm and his boots fit tightly around his legs. 

Strange, yes, but also good to have all his gear strapped back on and find the leather no longer added painful strain and pressure to his wounds. His skin had his usual tan back, the one he would get from working days out in the sun in the fields. His face no longe hurt when he smiled. In a lot of ways he felt healthy and stronger. But there was also the issue of his breathing - something he still struggled with. Numerous tasks still took a heavy toll on his body and he wasn’t sure if his lungs would ever fully heal. Sometimes, even just laying the wrong way would cause him to become short breathed. And his hands? Well, he couldn’t hold the sword for a very long time without his hand cramping up badly and the pain distracted him from the fight.

On the bright side - Zelda was getting better at sword fighting and he was confident that if push came to shove, she could defend herself. She was a quick and eager student and had soaked up all his lessons like a sponge. His teachings had stuck with her. The only thing that hadn’t stuck with her - unfortunately - was fishing. But that was okay.

The drive back to the Dueling Peaks Stable - they did have to return the Wagon and why not now - went in a very comfortable silence. Twilight watched the landscape roll by and when they were caught in a rain shower, they seeked shelter under a tree. The sudden shift in weather and atmosphere tugged at his scars and made them hurt and he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and rubbed his palm with his thumb but it brought him little relief. 

Zelda slipped closer to him in an attempt to huddle for warmth and if Twilight lifted his arm to pull her closer to his body - well that was that.

When it didn’t look like the rain would let up and instead seemed to get worse, they decided to travel on regardless. It couldn’t have been much farer to the Stable anyway.

“There you are!! I thought I’d never see my wagon ever again!” Tassaren called out when he saw the wagon cross the bridge. He sounded good hearted and even laughed when Twilight and Zelda looked properly embarassed. 

“I’m terribly sorry for the delay, Tassaren! But I promise the wagon is in good shape!” she said as she jumped off and helped Twilight down, too. Something seemed to hinder his movements - probably the drop in the atmosphere, she guessed. “I’m glad it helped you. So, where did that big wolf go?” he wondered as they untied Hoofles from the wagon and placed her under the little roof next to the main building of the stable. Twilight had gathered their backpacks from the back of the wagon and walked inside, his back hunched ever so slightly.

“We … uh … we took care of it. It’s okay, though!” Zelda added quickly as she realized what that sounded like and shook her cape until most of the water had dripped out. “It’s fine!” she assured Tassaren and took a place next to Twilight, who had sat down in front of the fireplace in an attempt to warm up.

“From here on, it’s just a one day trip to Kakariko. I already sent a letter ahead and asked Purah and Robbie to come, too. I think you’re going to like the place. It’s a small and very traditional town.” she assured him. “Who knows, maybe we can even get you dressed up in some proper shiekah attire. That’s got to be more comfortable than that chainmail!” she said and smoothed out the collar of his tunic. 

Twilight opened one eye and looked at her, a hint of amusement glimmering in his eyes. “What’s wrong with my chainmail?” he wanted to know and shifted so Zelda could sit closer by the fire and closer at his side.

“Nothing, per se!” Zelda said right away “I just think it’s got to be exhausting to wear it all the time. Plus it makes you look so serious! The pelt, too!” she said “Like a big, old, cranky warrior who will just ‘Grrr!’ at me any moment!” 

Twilight’s lips ever so barely stretched into a smile and he closed his eye again, leaning back against the warm stones of the fireplace. “And that’s not you at all”, Zelda babbled on and placed both her hands against Twilight’s cheeks to squish them gently. “you love to smile and to laugh. You’re not half as mean as you would like people to believe!” she said and on this, Twilight gently moved his head out of the way.

“Maybe so.” 

***

Borrowing one of Wild’s trusted horses and after equipping Hoofles with her own set of saddle and bridle, Twilight and Zelda set out the following morning to cross the last distance towards Kakariko.

The sky had cleared up beautifully after yesterday’s rain and the sun was making the dewdrops on the grass sparkle in an almost romantic fashion.

This time, however, Twilight had little eye for his surroundings. Because if there was one thing that Hoofles seemed to hate more than the harness of the wagon, it was the bridle. It was completely different from what she had worn before and she made her displeasure known by chewing on the bit and trying to drag the reins out of Twilight’s hands. He knew it was because she wasn’t used to it - Epona had the same problems when she had been younger - but they also didn’t have the time to go through days of training her to the feeling of the bit in her mouth and eventually, he stopped the mare when they had crossed a rugged looking stone bridge.

“Princess- hold on a moment.” Twilight called out to her and Zelda turned around on the brown horse they had borrowed from the stable - according to Tassaren, Wild had named this mare ‘Hippa’. Hippa seemed to have been well trained by Wild, because she wasn’t acting up at all and just trotted ahead in a peaceful and relaxed composure, not in the slightest bit impressed by Hoofles nervous twitching and snorting. 

Twilight pulled the reins close and made Hoofles stop before he slipped off her back. “Calm down, honey. I know how we will do it.” he whispered to her and patted her neck. Knowing that she would stay at his side, he took the bridle off her and immediately, Hoofles threw her head back with a satisfied clop of her hoof. Twilight removed the bit and used one of his leather straps for a makeshift noseband so he could have some control over her. When he had modified the bridle enough, he put it back onto her head and pulled the reins over her neck. He stored the bit in the saddle bag and swung himself up again with some strain on his arms. 

Without the foreign piece of metal in her mouth, Hoofles seemed a lot more relaxed and she quickly made to catch up with her new friend Hippa. Now that she was a lot calmer, the way to Kakariko went by in a breeze and by the end of the day, they slowly rode into the village. 

The wind carried the scent of hay, chicken and foreign herbs. There was also the underlying smell of a campfire and some meat roasted on it. “Boar”, Twilight said without context and Zelda looked around as if he had spotted one of the animals in the village. “Huh?” she asked confused.

“The villagers. They are roasting boar over a fire. Is there some sort of celebration?” he wondered and Zelda sat back in her saddle, tapping her chin. “Oh! Wait!” To Twilight’s suprise, she produced a Sheikah Slate from her saddle bag. It was smaller and obviously a replica, but it still baffled Twi.

“Right, today is Impa’s birthday!” she said excitedly and suddenly had Twilight right next to her. “You have one of those, too?” he wondered and took it from her.

“Ah … well almost. It doesn’t have all the features of Link’s slate but it contains a map and a calendar so it’s rather handy.” she said and scratched her neck “I made it myself.” Twilight could tell she tried to sound modest but she could not quite surpress the pride that played in her voice. He smiled and handed it back to her.

“Good work.” he said, even though he didn’t know if she really had done a good job. Zelda, however, glowered at his compliment.

“Thank you.” she smiled.

They entered the village not too long after and were met with the smell of boar, roasted vegetables and ale. Singing was to be heard over the soft breezes that blew through the village that rested in the crook of a canyon. The gentle chimes of windbells reached his ear not too short after. It was completely different from Lurelin Village and yet - Twilight liked it.

When he had joined Wild on his quest, he had never dared to get into the few towns that were strewn all over this Hyrule. His own journey had tought him exactly how people thought about big wolves that roamed through populated areas. So it was nice to actually see the village that his Cub had always spoken in the highest colors of. It was so different from the Kakariko of his world.

They left Hoofles and Hippa on a small hill at the entrance of the village and made their descend into the town’s center. Zelda was nearly bouncing in place, excited to see Impa, Robbie and Purah again. She had barely entered the ‘town square’ and was already waving both her arms. “Impaa! Happy birthdaaay!” she called out and ran around the big table that had been set up to hug the old lady.

Twilight followed shortly behind and got a good look at all the goods offered along the table. All sorts of vegetables were spread on wooden plates, along with rice balls and a big and colorful fruit cake - or at least what was left of it. 

The inhabitants of Kakariko-Village seemed to be mostly Shiekah. Almost all of them had white hair, red markings in their face and wore white and dark blue Yukatas made out of stiff linen. Before he had met Purah and Robbie, Twilight had never seen a Shiekah. Unsure where to go, he remained standing next to the large campfire in front of a pond that let to the local Statue of the Goddess. 

“Zelda!” Impa greeted her, joyful and wrapped her arms around the younger woman. “Purah and Robbie told me you were coming. Were is your companion?” she wanted to know and Zelda looked around. “He’s … oh! Twilight, come on over. Don’t just stand there!” she waved him closer and Twilight followed her motion, cautious as he looked at all the new people who didn’t really seem bothered by his experience. 

“Impa, this is Twilight. He is another-”

  
“Hero of Courage.” Impa said right away as she took Twilight’s mangled left hand into hers. Underneath the bandage, his part of the triforce was glowing softly. The old lady was blind in one eye but looked at him sharply, pulling him into a sitting position next to her. 

“Let me look at your face.” she ordered and pulled him closer to reach out her short arms. Then, in a swift motion, she pushed the bangs and hair out of his face and held it on top of his head to look at him even more closely. Steel blue, surprised eyes underneath thick, dark lashes came to light, sitting in a face full of scars and strange markings. 

“Huh.” Impa grunted and turned his head into the light of the campfire. Twilight let it all happen, too baffled to actually fight back. 

“Such lonely eyes I never beheld …” she said quietly.

Finally, she let go of his head and sat back in her chair. Instead, she put her hand to his chest, right in the middle. Where his heart was. “You’ll be alright, Pup.” she smiled and the nickname startled him. He blinked at her a couple of times.

“How did you …” he stammered but couldn’t quite get the sentence out because suddenly, Impa laughed and patted his cheek. “Now, more ale for our visitors, huh?” she demanded and suddenly, Twilight found himself with a hump of ale and a plate full of delicious smelling food.

His stomach growled and he could no longer deny that he was hungry. Impa’s words still stuck with him but he grabbed a fork anyway and started eating. Zelda had her plate with her and moved between people that were spread all over the little plaza to talk to as many people as she could.

As the evening progressed, Twilight retreated from the festivities just a little bit to sit on the stairs that led all the way up to what he assumed was Impa’s house and watched how more people came together and started to dance to the music that a little band was playing in front of the Statue of the Goddess. He held an apple in his hand and rolled it back and forth absentmindedly.

He knew for sure that as soon as his hands started working again, he was going to do everything in his might to find his brothers again.


	8. Into the Unkown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank our lord and saviour Hiromu Arakawa for inventing the concept of automails and would also like to not be put in handcuffs for blatantly stealing aforementioned concept and mix it with a LOT OF medical fantasy bullshit
> 
> This chapter has been slow coming but now, we only have an Epilogue left and Umbra will be finished! 
> 
> it has been brought to my attention that there might be some tension between Zelda and Twilight and I was very fucking oblivious to my own writing so aslkdjlajsd see what I did! Be the judge!!

* * *

Days in Kakariko were … slow. 

Yes, that was the word Twilight would use to describe it. Nothing much was happening, Zelda had grabbed Purah and Robbie and locked herself in a backroom of Impa’s house and only ever came out for meals and to take measurements of Twilight’s arms and hands, all the while she mumbled about a lot of things that Twilight didn’t understand. 

As Zelda had suggested, they actually had dressed into some more traditional clothing, which in his case, consisted of a tight but soft, midnight blue leggins, straw sandals and a half open, cotton yukata with red hems. He no longer felt the need to wear bandages and so the scars on his torso were out in the open. 

At first, he had been scared of how people would react but he quickly realized that no one in the village spared his scars a second gaze. Sometime’s not even a first one. And for that, he was grateful. He got along well with Paya as the two of them mostly bonded over talking about Wild and she had gifted him with a brush and a rubber hairtie that he used to keep his hair back and out of his neck on warm days. 

When Twilight wasn’t busy training Hoofles to get used to the bit of her bridle and work with her some more on various other things, he found himself helping Olkin and Mellie on the fields, or watched over the cuccos with Cado. 

The noon sun was high in the sky and Twilight had pulled his yukata down and tied it around his waist as he loaded fortified pumpkin after fortified pumpkin into a small wooden wagon that Olkin had provided him. The old man had come down with a nasty lumbago the other night and naturally, Twilight had volunteered to help bring the pumpkins in before they could rot on the field. It was hard work but he wasn’t _Ranchhand_ for nothing. 

He could hear Warriors’ mocking voice clear as day as he thought about it. 

The strain was starting to get to his arms, after working on the field for well over three hours now. He heaved another pumpkin into the wagon and leaned back, wiping some sweat off his jawline. It didn’t help much because he was sweating all over and his breath came out in little whistling sounds. But - there was only a quarter of the field left and he was positive he could push through. Olkin had promised him two or three pumpkins for his work, after all and he could not wait to actually make that Pumpkin Soup for Zelda.

“Hey!”

Speaking of the devil. 

Twilight turned around as he saw Zelda hurry closer to him, a long ribbon and a notepad in her hand, a pen clipped behind her ear. She wore a comfortable yukata, as well, but hers was a little longer and had nice embroideries. 

Upon spotting him, Zelda stopped in her tracks and did her very hardest not to … not to ogle him. By working on the fields, Twilight slowly and surely was beginning to regain more of that muscle mass. It showed especially now that he was glistening with sweat in the noon sun and-

_By Hylia! What am I even thinking?!_

She quickly looked down on her notepad with all the intensity she could muster and hoped it was enough to hide her blush.

“You okay?” Twilight asked and crossed the small distance to stand with her in the shade of an oak. 

The yukata suited her well - he thought. She had bound her sleeves up with a ribbon that she had crossed on her back and brought it back around her other shoulder, before tying it underneath her armpit. That way, she could move her arms freely. Twilight took a deep swig of his waterskin and moved his eyes across Zelda’s arms and hands. They were stained in ink and charcoal and she had several tools he could not place clipped to the belt of her yukata. His gaze moved up, along her collarbone but he quickly pried his eyes off to look at her face, where she had a big charcoal smear right on her cheeks. Her hair was held back by several bobby pins, the rest of the blonde curls bound into a tiny ponytail. It revealed even more of her slender neck and the soft skin just behind her ears and now-

_What the hell am I thinking._

Twilight looked away and pulled the gloves off his hands. It was hard to push the pumpkins around with just seven fingers but since he had gone at his own pace, it had worked out. He grabbed a bucket of water and cleaned his hands and his face and before he even thought about it, he reached out.

“Yes, I-I’m fine”, Zelda stammered “I just wanted to-” suddenly, Twilight’s wet hand was in her face and rubbed the smudge of charcoal off. The touch brought a welcoming coolness to her face but did little to cease the fire burning underneath her cheeks. “Just wanted to …” she stammered and completely lost her trail of thought as she looked up at Twilight, who just seemed to realize what he was doing and quickly retreated his hand, rubbing along his neck and clearing his throat. 

“Sorry you … you just were .. there was some charcoal …” he mumbled and Zelda nodded.

“Right, it’s … it’s nothing. I just wanted to- we started to work on a prototype! A physical one!” she finally got out almost yelling. “I just wanted to take your measurements one more time, you’ve been working so hard over the past week that … they keep changing.” she chuckled and Twilight sat down on a small wooden bench.

  
“Alright. Take them, then.” he said and held his arms out, focussing on the pumpkins in the cart.

"Right!” Zelda said even though she felt she said this word way too often and got to work, measuring the length and width of his left arm, measured the fingers on his right hand and the one’s on his left hand and all the while she tried not to stare at his dirty, scarred, sweat covered chest. Soon, she had written everything down and stepped back, rolling up the measuring tape again. 

“That’s it! I’m gonna leave you back to your work!” she yelped and turned around. A lot of confusing thoughts and feelings were rushing through her and she wanted to get away from Twilight as fast as she could. So fast, in fact, that she almost ran. 

  
“Princess”, he called after her and it caused her to stop and look over her shoulder. He stood next to the wagon again and patted one of the pumpkins that he had reaped. The smile on his face was sweet and genuine “I can finally cook you the soup. If you want.” he added and Zelda nodded furiously.

“Please!” she said and then rushed off.

Twilight watched her jog away and waited until she was out of earshot before he let out a groan and rested his forehead against the pile of pumpkins. 

What in the world was he doing- felling, really more than anything? He couldn’t look at Zelda like _that_ , it was inappropriate and weren’t she and the Cub …?

Someone chuckled above him and he looked up to see Mellie leaned over the wooden fence of the plum garden that was just above the pumpkin field. “That was really cute”, she laughed and waved a riceball in Twilight’s direction. 

By Hylia, Twilight wished he could just sink into the ground and never surface again.

He pushed himself away from the cart of pumpkins and walked over to where Mellie was holding out the riceball, taking it from her and biting into it right away. “That wasn’t cute, that was stupid.” he munched. 

“N’awww, kid, don’t break your head over it. If something is supposed to happen, it will happen, no matter how much you want or not want it.” Mellie laughed and patted his shoulders. Twilight tried his hardest not to scoff and wondered when he would have to start gathering up smart and ‘wise’ quotes that he could use when he was older. 

Time had no shortage of those, either.

He finished his riceball and set to reap the last of the pumpkins, driving the little cart into a pantry next to the house and place the vegetables in their assigned shelf. He helped himself to two of the smaller one’s and reported back to Olkin that the fields were reaped and if he wanted, he could sow some other crops tomorrow, but Olkin waved him off and said he had enough of his help for now.

***

Loaded with two, honestly beautiful pumpkins, Twilight made his way back to the inn, where he and Zelda were staying and put them next to his bed. There was a small set of stairs that led to a bathroom under the roof of the inn and Twilight grabbed one of the towels Ollie offered and made his way upstairs, hoping that the room was unoccupied. But given that they were the only ones staying at the inn right now, he was fairly positive.

He took time to clean himself, mindful of the scars on his body and washed his hair thoroughly before he paused for a moment, staring at himself in the mirror across from the shower. Why did he feel like he was cleaning up for a … a date? That was just silly. 

Zelda and him - they were just friends. 

He remembered when Warriors had insisted to introduce him to one of his various, female friends and how awkward he had been all throughout the evening. Sure, she had been pretty and nice and they - or rather she - had talked a lot but in the end, nothing had happened and the girl had even politely let him down. Something Warriors had not let him live down for weeks.

Twilight quickly shook his head. It was stupid anyway. They would not be here together forever, so even IF he liked Zelda more than just a friend, it was a hopeless endeavor. He would find a portal and would have to let her go. Forever.

And they all knew how good he was at _that_.

No, he really couldn’t afford to let someone in again. He needed to protect himself. 

He had let himself become too vulnerable, too many new hearts already attached to his. He dreaded the day their adventure would come to an end and they would go their seperate ways forever, their hearts shattered in nine pieces and stuck in places all over time. 

Well … it were going to be too many pieces for Twilight to count, if he wasn’t careful. Without him realizing, he had put his hand to his heart and let out a big and deep sigh. No point getting worked up about it, now.

It was all in the future. Problems for another him to worry about.   
  
He finished his shower and got dressed back in his Yukata before he walked downstairs again, where Ollie was dozing off again. 

As he gathered his pumpkins and decided to check out the local market for more ingredients to possible bake some bread, as well. He really hoped for a good goat cheese.

***

When Zelda stepped out in the evening, she was immediately captured by an herby yet sweet smell. Onions, caramelized, she thought. But something else too. Some sort of cheese? She looked around from her spot atop the stairs to Impa’s house until she spotted Twilight close to the Statue of the Goddess, stirring around in a huge cauldron that was suspended over a burning campfire.

He wore his yukata properly now and had his hair tied back tightly. His face was scrunched up in concentration as he lifted the big wooden spoon up and tasted the soup. A soft orange glow painted over the scars in his face. His steel blue eyes were attentive and had a certain shine to them, one that Zelda hadn’t seen on him yet. It was a good look on him. With his eyebrows crinkled like that, Zelda could almost see him standing in a house, surrounded by a couple of kids who chattered and babbled while he was cooking. It was a good look on him, like being a father would suit him. Sure, he was a little rough around the edges, but his heart was in the right place and he had proven over and over again how much he liked kids, and how much kids liked him and-

Wait.

_What am I thinking!?_

Ah! The soup! Zelda remembered. She closed her fist tightly around the item she was holding in her hand, cleared her head of everything she had just thought and rushed down the stairs.

“Twilight!” she called out, her voice carried on the wind. Twilight heard her right away and when he looked up, his face smoothed out and a soft smile played around his lips that made Zelda’s heart stutter.

In her hurry, she tripped over a small stick and felt herself falling forward, the ground coming closer and she was sure this would be the most embarassing moment of her life. She let out a yelp and then nothing. She didn’t fall anymore. Instead, there was Twilight’s arm underneath her shoulders, holding her and slowly lifting her up again. “I got you.” he whispered. He smelled like soap and pumpkin and spices and warmth. 

Zelda blushed and avoided his gaze “O-Oh … thank you.” she whispered and when she was standing on her own two feet again, she brushed her hair behind her ears and looked down at what he held. “Here!” she said and thrusted her fist out, knocking it against his chest and of course it wasn’t enough to hurt him, but he still let out a gasp and laughed. 

“Ouch.” he grinned.

“Oh Hylia! I’m sorry!” Zelda yelped and awkwardly reached out to pat the space where she had hit him, feeling his muscles under her fingertips and oh- She pulled her hand back again and wished for the ground to open up and swallow her whole. “I got this for you, sit down!” she said in an unneccesary loud voice and Twilight did as he was told, sitting down on the little stool that stood next to his cauldron.

Zelda forced herself to calm down and rolled up the right sleeve of Twilight’s yukata. “Remember that time when you touched that electric eel and your muscles got all relaxed?” she asked and saw Twilight’s affirmative nod from the corner of her eyes. “Good! I worked on this idea some more and I came up with this.” she unfolded what looked like a glove with a long sleeve. 

It was made out of pitch black material and wires ran the length of it that pulsated in a soft, blue light. When she pulled it on his hand, it fit like a second set of skin, snug to his fingers and wrist and not uncomfortable at all. The wires went all the way from the tip of his fingers and ended in a rather stiff bracelet that clasped around the circumfence of his arm just short of his elbow. The armband seemed a little clunky with the telltale Shiekah Symbol engraved into the cool metal. 

“Oh?” he said surprised and turned his palm upwards. There, in the material of the glove, was the same Shiekah symbol, stitched into the fabric with blue wire thread. A small, glowing blue, diamond shaped plate sat in the center of the eye. All the wires of the glove gathered in the Shiekah Eye.

“Now, push the little plate with your finger.” Zelda chirped and Twilight brought his middle finger down with some effort. Blue Shiekah runes flashed across the glove for a moment as a spark of electricity cracked through the wires and shot into his stiff muscles, which eased almost immediately. Although the spark was a little bit painful, it was a lot easier to move his hand now and he grabbed the wooden spoon he had used in a tight grip. He stood up, amazed at Zelda’s invention and experimentally swung the spoon, as if it was a sword. He twisted his wrist around so the spoon did a smooth looking spin and then lashed out again, clocking against the cauldron. It made a loud clanking noise and started swinging back and forth gently and so he rushed forward and held it in place. 

“Princess”, he said as he focused back on Zelda, who looked at him satisfied, her arms crossed on her back. By now, anytime he called her princess, it felt more like a nickname.

“This is amazing!” he took her by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug. She had never seen this sort of enthusiasm on his face. The broad grin, the louder than average voice. It was endearing. “Thank you so much”, he said, right next to her ear and sat her down.   
  
“I know this is nearly not enough to pay you back but I finally managed to make that soup.” he said and walked over to a small table he had sat up next to the cauldron. He reached for a sturdy knife and cut off a thick slice of bread. The crust made a satisfying, crunchy sound as the blade dug in it. Next, he grabbed a wooden bowl and filled it up with soup, balanced the slice of bread on the edge and handed it over to Zelda along with a spoon.

“Here you go. The best soup you can get in all of Hyrules.” he announced as Zelda took the bowl from him. It was warm to the touch and smelled absolutely amazing. “Hmm… it’s in tough competition with Link’s Clam Chowder, so we’ll see.” she said but her mouth was already watering at the smell. 

Twilight wasn’t lying, the soup _was_ great. 

“Okay, I’ll admit it”, she said after her third helping of soup. By now she was sure she had an orange tongue from all the pumpkin. “This IS the best soup in all of Hyrule’s”, she giggled. “And the bread, too! If you’re ever done with being the Hero of Courage, you’re going to make someone very happy with your baking.” she hummed. 

“I made you happy, didn’t I?” Twilight whispered over the cauldron and Zelda looked up, meeting his gaze. 

A gentle blush was grazing her cheeks, but she didn’t look away.

“You did.”

***

From their workshop at Impa’s house, Zelda could look out over the little plaza in front of the same house. She was sitting at a large work-bench and today was a slow day. A light drizzle was coming down that painted the village outside in mute colors. She pushed the magnifying goggles she was using to build the insides of the last finger up on her forehead and stretched her back until it popped. With a hum, Zelda reached for the cup of tea next to her tools, she caught a glimpse of Twilight, standing outside. One of the Shiekah had set up a trainingsdummy for him and he was out in the drizzle, his sleeves bound back with some ribbon, hair in a ponytail.  
  
The glove was glowing softly around his arm and let out an occasional spark as Twilight pressed the handle of the sword against the plating in the glove. Zelda was happy that it seemed to work as smoothly as it did. She rested her chin in her hand and watched Twilight go through what seemed to be his routine warm-up before he started actually fighting against the dummy.

He moved so different from Link. Where he was swift and fast and jumped around a lot and frantically switched weapons, Twilight preferred strong attacks from a sure stance. Even though there was no one attacking him, he dodged smoothly out of the way of the imaginary attack. 

Zelda leaned forward a little and watched how Twilight jumped to the right, rolled around the enemy and brought his blade up in a brutal motion, slicing up the dummy so that all the straw spilled out and the linen covering fell apart. Amazed, Zelda watched as he straightened himself up and looked at the wooden skelleton of the dummy. She had always known that he was strong, she had just never considered the technique he would use. And from what she had gathered so far, he used a lot more of that than Link.

Suddenly, Twilight’s hand flew to his chest and he bend over and coughed, balling his fist in the fabric of his yukata. Zelda’s head perked up and she was on her feet, running out to him in a matter of a minute.

“Twi!” she called out from afar. As soon as she reached him, she helped him sit down on a nearby bench and rubbed circles on his back until his cough faded and he rubbed some spit from his lips. “Sorry”, he rumbled, avoiding her gaze. He was still visible out of breath. “Are you okay?” she wanted to know and watched as he straightened out his back and tried to take a couple of deep breaths. With a sigh, he slammed his Ordon Blade into the ground in front of him. “It was going so well”, he whispered, rubbing his hand across his neck. It hurt from the cough attack, just like every breath hurt his ribs. Slowly, he rubbed his palm over his chest until he thought he could breath sort of normally again.

“I just think that my lungs will probably be .. screwed forever.” he said and Zelda frowned a little. “Maybe it just … needs more time …” she said and didn’t dare to speak much louder than Twilight did, as if she was scared she would break some sort of spell. Twilight scoffed.

“How much more time? It’s been-” he stopped suddenly and stared at her. “I-It’s been four months …” he whispered and Zelda looked at him, surprised as well. Has it already been this long? He got to his feet with a defeated sigh.

So much time had passed. Had the same amount of time passed for his brother’s as well? Were they still in his Hyrule? Were they okay? Had they solved the snow issue or had something happened? He could feel it coming for him - that wave of loneliness that had swallowed him before and that he could not keep at bay, no matter how hard he tried. The wooden pendant lay cold against his chest and it had not been warm in … in since he had gotten it. What if Time or Wild had lost their pendants and he would never find them again? If he- What if-

A warm hand reached for his and the tidal wave crashed at the shore and the loneliness washed around his feet. He flinched a little and looked at their joined hands. It belonged to Zelda. 

“It’s okay”, she said quietly and when he wouldn’t meet her gaze, she reached out and carefully moved his head so that he would look at her and didn’t pull her hand away. “Twilight, it’s going to be alright. Once I finished the prosthetic, we can start looking for a portal and then you can get back to them.” she whispered, her thumb rubbing some rain off his cheek, feeling the smooth scars under her touch. 

“It’s not going to take much longer. Two days at best and if it all works out the way I planned, we can go set out right away.” she promised. “You won’t be apart from them much longer. I swear on my crown.” she whispered and Twilight nodded, but didn’t pull back from her hand. “Okay …” he croaked.

***

As it was Hylia’s custom, nothing went the way Zelda had planned. At least, not really. 

In theory, Zelda, Robbie and Purah had created three replicas of Twilight’s fingers, and two docking stations. The prosthetics would work by taking up the electric impulses Twilight’s nervous system sent out to power and regulate the various electric motors and pneumatic actuators inside the fingers.   
  
In practice, she _had_ finished the prosthetics and they did set up everything to attach them to Twilight’s hand but the treatment was - awful to put it mildly. 

In order to fix the docking stations - one for his index-finger and one for his ring-finger and pinky - to his hand, Purah had to remove the scar tissue down until the nerves felt again - which Twilight made known by screaming at the top of his lungs. They had draped a wet towel over his forehead and eyes so he wouldn’t see much of the procedure that Purah performed on him and to keep the fever down. 

The Shiekah grid her teeth against his screams. They had used sedatives on him but they weren’t nearly strong enough to really block out the extent of the pain she was causing him. 

Robbie held him down with two hands and asissted with the tools as Purah leaned over the Ancient Writings they had uncovered and that had helped them build the artificial limbs in the first place. She read through the anatomy drawings every now and then to make sure she did everything absolutely correctly.

Zelda was on Twilight’s right side, holding his hand with one hand and resting her other on his head, scrubbing her fingers across his scalp in an effort to soothe him. He was tense as a bowstring, his muscles hard and flexed tightly. His grip left bruises on her hand, but she was willing to take it if it meant it gave him some sort of comfort. “It’s going to be okay”; she told him, over and over again “it’s okay, not much longer and the first part will be over and you can rest, okay? Just hold on.” tears burned in her eyes as she watched him, desperately forcing himself to hold still but he could hardly fight the instinctual squirming. 

She couldn’t see his eyes, but beneah the towel, she noticed hot tears tracking down his sweat covered temples. They pooled in the shell of his ear and she quickly reached out to grab another small washcloth and wipe them away. “We’ll make up a stronger sedative next time, okay? You won’t have to be like this again.” she promised, her voice a broken whisper. Zelda could only begin to imagine the pain he was in. He screamed despite his torn vocal chords and it sounded rough, as if someone was scrubbing a rusty blade across a metal floor. 

It was almost too much to bear and she rested her forehead against his hand, knowing that this was different than injury, that this was pain by design. It was torture, one he had given his consent to, but torture nonetheless. “I’m sorry.” she whispered.

Twilight wished the darkness would come and finally swallow him whole and never release him again. But he was strong, resilient and for once, it played against him. So he didn’t faint, just laid there on the table and writhed in pain as Purah cut off the remaining stumps of his fingers, the scar tissue around it, laid it all bare against the cold air of the room. Pain roared through every fibre of his body, ravaging his senses until he could feel nothing else but this. 

This but something else, too. Zelda’s hand in his. He shifted his head into her direction and tried to focus on her only. Her hand was soft and small, her fingers fit perfectly in the space between his. Oddly enough, it was what he noticed first. How perfect her hand felt in his. How wonderful her other fingers brushed through his hair. How wonderful … she just was.

“Zel...da…” he croaked and her hand moved to the side of his face right away. “Yes, yes, I’m here. It’s alright, Twi, just a little while longer and Purah is done with the docking part.” she said and brushed her thumb across his cheek, never minding his sweat and tears. “Just a little while longer.” she promised and Twilight gave a curd nod leaning his face into her palm. 

Soft … it was so soft and cool. Like the waves that would play around his feet back in Lurelin Village. His blood rushed in his ears but it sounded like the waves, too. 

Somewhere in the distance, he could hear Purah say something but did it even matter? 

Not really. 

The only thing that mattered was Zelda’s hand in his.   
  
***   
  
Purah sat back once she was done and looked at the prone form of the young man on her bed. If she had to be honest, she was impressed with his stubborness. When they had figured out that the sedatives weren’t strong enough to put Twilight under, Purah had meant to stop but Twilight had insisted they go on. He would hold on, endure until it was over. 

And by Hylia, he had. He had held on until they were done. But as soon as Purah had done her last stroke of work, his body had finally went slack and his head had tilted to the side. And that was maybe for the best. He looked like he needed the rest. 

“That’s one tough guy if I’ve ever seen one.” Robbie said with a little shake of his head. He went to fetch a couple of bandages and a lotion made from herbs and animal fat. They applied it generously to the fresh surgical wounds and wrapped a tight bandage around it. 

While they did so, Zelda gently pulled her hand away from Twilight’s and laid it down next to his body. Her own hand was a little sore and there was a small bruise forming in the space between her index finger and thumb, were his thumb had pressed down. But it was nothing compared to what Twilight had gone through.

She removed the luke warm cloth from his forehead and wiped his face clean until there was not a single bit of sweat and tears left and put a new wetrag on his forehead. Slowly, she ran her hand through his damp bangs. 

“You did it”, she whispered, even though he couldn’t hear “you held on and everything went well … it’s going to be okay.” she said and firmly believed it. 

Everything would work out. 

***

It took a week for Twilight to get rid of a desasterous fever that followed the ‘surgery’ (as the ancient Shiekah scripts they found called the procedure) and another week for him to be somewhat fit again to eat a full meal without throwing it all back up. 

Zelda sat in front of him on a little stool as she took the bandages off and cleaned the excess lotion off. 

The skin where metal was wielded into flesh was still red and a little swolen but looked a lot better than two weeks ago. Twilight - dressed down in a linen tunic and the blue leggins - looked at his hand with a tired expression. He had done nothing but sleep for the past two weeks, only to occasionally wake up and eat something and go back to sleep again. 

From the herbs they had crafted the sedative from, Paya had brewed a tea that Twilight drank every night to get some rest despite the pain and right now, he wanted nothing more than one of those. For the past two days, a steady downpour of rain had come down and the change in the atmosphere was not doing much for his scars and the fresh wound on his hand. The pain pulsated all the way from his hand up to his shoulder, pulling at the raw nerves beneath the cold metal and every bit of his brain told him that this was wrong, that he had something permanently attached to his body that didn’t belong where it was. He woke up at night and found himself tempted to try to pry it off, only stopping when he realized what he had been doing.

“It looks a lot better”, Zelda’s words made him perk up and he lifted his head a litte to look at her. Light shone in from the window behind her, illuminating her blonde curls like a halo and he lifted his other hand to rub it across his eyes. “How does it feel?” she wanted to know, as she took his hand between her own and gently massaged the non-inflamed skin.

“Hurts”, Twilight rumbled, a little shake going through his shoulders as he felt Zelda’s hands on his. “Strange. Like it doesn’t belong.” Zelda frowned a little at that and looked up at him. He looked incredibly worn out and pale, still a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and Zelda could not help but feel that they had hurt him more than they had helped. 

“I don’t- I’m sure that the pain will pass and you will get used to it. And maybe it will all feel less strange once we can put the fingers on and you will have a full hand again.” she tried to assure him, gently carressing the back of his hand with her thumb. It did look a little strange, the way the black and bronze metal clung to his skin. She looked up and saw that Twilight didn’t meet her gaze but instead kept looking at his hands.  
  
“What if it won’t?” he wondered and it made Zelda stop her motions. She frowned heavily down at his hand.

“It will be.” she said after a moment of pause and looked up at him, making him look at her in turn. “Twilight, I promise, it will be fine.” she said, almost desperate because she wouldn’t know what to do if it wasn’t going to be fine. 

If this didn’t help him, if it only made worse, that would mean she had failed. 

And she couldn’t accept another failure. 

“Okay”, he murmured. “I trust you.”

The tone of his voice made Zelda nearly cry all over again.

***

After another week of recovery and putting the last touches on the artificial fingers she and Robbie had created, Twilight seemed to be okay enough to try it. Zelda showed him the prostethics on a little tray.

They mirrored the fingers on his right hand in length and shape almost perfectly. But where there was flesh on his hand, these fingers looked like the fingers on an armored glove. On the tray, dormant - he supposed - they had a mat black color. The joints shimmered in a soft bronze color. Little wires came out of the base of each finger, matching the wires in the sockets on his hand. Somehow, looking at them filled Twilight with unease, but he also couldn’t pry his eyes off them. He had to look at them, he knew that. He had to get used to them. 

He would wear them for the rest of his life, after all.

“Are you ready?” Zelda asked in a soft voice as Twilight leaned back on the bed he had come to hate. “‘m ready.” he mumbled and Purah turned on an overhead light. “If our calculations and assumptions are correct, this is going to hurt.” she said. 

Twilight let out a short bark that could have been a laugh. This was going to hurt. What else was new?

“We’re going to connect the wires with the wires in the socket. The wires are your new nerves. Technically, they should receive the electric impulses your brain sends out and start glowing and you should be able to move them like normal fingers.” she explained and adjusted the light a final time so she could see everything. Zelda took her place on Twilight’s other side and this time, he reached for her hand right away and she immediately wrapped both her hands around his.

He looked at her with his brows furrowed and she just looked back fierce determination burning in her eyes. She believed it would work and well - that was enough for Twilight.

“Alright, here we go then.” Purah said and brought the pinky finger close to the docking station, moving the wires in place with a pair of long tweezers. As if seeking their significant other, the wires snapped together and Twilight jerked his body hard to the side, away from the pain - away from the thousands white hot irons that shot through his hand, up his arm and straight into the base of his skull. A garbled scream came out of his mouth as he nearly flung himself out of the bed, half into Zelda, half onto the floor and bringing her down with him. “Twilight!” she shouted as she tried to hold him upright but it didn’t really work. Goddess - he was so heavy. 

Robbie had tried to hold him back in vain but Twilight had brought his hand up to his chest, out of breath as if he had ran a marathon and his eyes darted about wildly, like a feral animal that had been cornered and hurt. As if he was confused where the pain was coming from. 

The intensity of the pain had faded but it still rang like an echo through his arm and through his brain and he was sure it would stay there forever. 

Pressed to the fabric of his tunic, his new pinky finger started to glow, covered in the telltale blue runes of the Sheikah slate. It twitched nervously but calmed down after a moment. Purah stared at it with big eyes and nearly jumped on the bed. “It worked!” she called out and Twilight looked down on his hand. Gingerly, he flexed his muscle memory and jerked back once more when his pinky actually started to bend. 

“It … it does …” he mumbled, astonished and Zelda gingerly reached out to help him up. It worked. His pinky was really moving the way he wanted it to. With a newfound resolve, he claimed his seat back on the bed. He grabbed the wetrag that was still sitting on the side of his bed and bit down on it before he nodded at Purah to continue.

Deciding to have something to bite down on had been very smart because the pain did not get any easer. This time, he refused to hold Zelda’s hand and instead held on tight to the edge of the bed. Another wise decision because by the time the index finger had finally been attached and Twilight remembered to breath, the wood was broken where he had pressed his hand into it.

“All done!” Purah announced. Twilight’s view was swimming as he focused on the ceiling above him, letting the last waves of pain ride through him and simply let the rag drop from his mouth onto his chest.

Then, slowly as if he was moving a broken piece of pottery, he lifted his hand in front of his face and marveled at it. He tested the movement in his fingers and was astonished at how smoothly and immediately the glowing digits reacted to his commands. They _felt_ sore, as if he had overused them. He dropped his hand on his chest and looked at Zelda. “It’s …” he mumbled as his fingers drummed on his chest. “I don’t…”

Zelda reached out and placed her hand on his. “You don’t have to say anything.” she whispered, tears glistening in her eyes. “I’m just … glad that it works.” she said.

To offer some more protection and stability for the docking-port, Robbie presented him a tight fitted, fingerless glove, that he let Twilight slip on himself. 

“There you are”, the old man said with a satisfied hum. “All back together.” Twilight continued to stare at his newly restored hand and nodded. “Yes.” he said, finally lifting his head to look at all three of them.

“Thank you… for this.”

***

In the light of day his hands looked strange. 

There, but strange nonetheless. 

Beneath the glove on his right hand, he could still see some scars peeking out but with the low buzz of electricity, the stiffness was almost gone and he could flex them easily. 

The fingers on his left hand glowed softly, pulsing everytime he send a command into them to move. 

Since he had gotten them, two days had passed. The sore feeling in them was still there and he doubted it would pass any time soon, if at all. The fingerless glove concealed the ports and maybe that was why Twilight thought it felt a little less wrong. 

“How are you doing?” Zelda asked as she sat down next to him, handing him a ceramic mug full of steaming hot tea before she sat down on the bench next to him. It was a beautiful day outside and the sun was shining down into the quaint little village. Twilight soaked the warmth in as much as he could.

“Better, I think”, he tentaviley reached for the mug as if he didn’t trust his hand to hold it yet and was glad when Zelda understood his apprehension and didn’t let go until he fully held the mug in his hand. “It still hurts but … it’s better.” he said and looked at Zelda, who in turn smiled sweetly at him.

“I’m glad. You were so-” a rumble in the sky made them shut up and both heads darted up immediately. The sky was still clear and blue.

“What..?” Zelda murmured and the rumble repeated itself. A second passed and then the ground started to shake violently, some potted plants were crashing to the ground in front of the Inn.

For a moment, Twilight had the irrational fear that they were shifting worlds. The shaking wouldn’t stop.

“What’s going on?!” Zelda called over the noise, nearly tripping off the bench if Twilight hadn’t hold her. The rumbling sound got louder by the second.

“ _Princess!!_ ” Purah shouted from the little hill before the shrine that towered over Kakariko Village. “ _Princess!! The castle!!_ ”

Immediately, Zelda was on her feet and started running up the hill, Twilight close at her side. Purah met them on top and they rushed to the edge of the cliff that overlooked Telta Lake behind the village.

From there, they had a nearly clear view to Hyrule Castle.

The building that usually loomed in the far distance, always at the horizon no matter where you looked shook with an ungodly force. Crackling, black and red energy was spiraling around it, the roar undoubtedly coming from the Malice. 

Beneath the clouds of energy, it looked like it was _rising_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all saw the trailer for botw2 right?
> 
> EDIT: The first couple of comments left me feeling insecure. do you guys think I shouldn't have pushed this budding romance? is it weird? did it destroy anything or ...? ah, i don't know @.@
> 
> i always kind of liked the idea because I thought they would make a cute couple - visually at least - and I never really confirmed BotW!Zelink and it would definetly leave Twilight feeling more conflicted but right now, I'M very conflicted so uh ... your thoughts would be appreciated?


	9. The Price of Freedom

Next to him, Zelda shook like the ground underneath them. “No ... “ she whispered. She leaned on Twilight’s shoulder for support but suddenly pushed past him and ran back down the way they had come. “No, no, no!!” she yelled as she ran and Twilight ran after her, right away.

Zelda was fast. A lot faster than she would let on. Or maybe Twilight was just still slow on his feet. 

He followed her down the hill and watched how she nearly crushed into Hippa, frantically mumbling to herself as she threw the saddle on her back and fix it in place with shaking hands. 

“Zelda!” Twilight caught up with her just as she attempted to pull herself up. “Zelda, wait!” he grabbed her arm, his grip strong and Zelda stopped, momentarily looking down at him. 

“Let me go! I have to go to the castle. There are people there, they were rebuilding the town-”

“I know.” Twilight said, but it didn’t seem to really reach Zelda’s ear because she kept rambling.

“Whatever that Malice is doing there, there must be monsters there, too! I have to go and protect them, I’m the princess!”

“I know.”

“You taught me how to use a sword and encouraged me to fight so now I’m going to fight, don’t try to stop me!!”

“I won’t.” 

Zelda snapped her mouth shut and looked down at him, still half hanging off Hippa’s side. The horse was getting impatient and stomped her hoof on the dirt once, shaking her head.

“I won’t stop you”, Twilight said and held Zelda steady as she dropped off. “I’ll come with you. But before we leave, you’re going to need armor.”

***

They rushed into Kakariko’s clothing store. Twilight had eyed the set of Hylian armor for a while now, hoping that it may come in his size one of these days, but Claree had to disappoint him time and time again. 

“What’s going on?” the shop owner shouted as they rushed to the racks that held the various pieces that belonged to the set. 

“The castle is under attack.” he said as he picked out the size with a skilled eye. Zelda held her arms out for Twilight to push in an undershirt, the chainmail, the red tunic and the matching leather armor that went above the whole set. Once they had picked out everything, they rushed out again.

“Sorry Claree, we will pay you later!” Zelda shouted over her shoulder as they ran over to the inn. The earthquake was beginning to settle down but running still proved difficult. Twilight nearly fell over his own feet as they rushed inside and he reached for his backpack even though he wasn’t quite there yet.

Everything was suddenly so much easier, with his hands back. Smoothly, he shrugged his Yukata off and slipped out of his leggins while Zelda went behind a paper screen to change out of her own layers of yukata. They changed in silence - aside from the rustling of clothes and the occasional rumbling in the sky, not many words were exchanged. 

Twilight was just about done pulling his own, forest green hero tunic over his head when Zelda approached him, clearing her throat. “I need some help with the … the chest piece.” she admitted, holding out the pieces of leather, obviously a little confused with all the straps and the placement.

“Of course”, Twilight said and reached for his belt to tie it around his middle as he walked over to her. He was amazed at how little trouble he had with slipping the little metal stick into the assigned hole in the opposite side of the belt and push the end through the little loop. Previously, the task had been finicky and barely manageable but now - the prosthetic worked smoothly. Like his own hand really was there. If only he ever had a way to properly pay her back for what she had done for him. 

The first piece of leather went around Zelda’s waist. Five straps went down the length of the leather corsage that were fixed into place easily. Skillfully, Twilight draped the added blue-ish green sash over the corsage and finally added the belt that could hold a sword and a couple of little pouches. He tugged the cherry red tunic underneath in place some more and then held the leather chest-protector out for Zelda to slip her arms into it. Three straps under Zelda’s arm were done equally fast and once he was done, he stepped back to look her up and down. 

“That’s it?” Zelda asked and Twilight nodded, reaching out to smooth her collar and pull some fabric out where it had got stuck underneath the chainmail. “That should be it. How does it feel?” he asked.

The ground had finally stopped shaking, but the atmosphere was thick with anticipation. 

“Heavy.” Zelda said with a sigh and patted herself down. “How do you travel in these?” she wondered as Twilight reached for the black fur he usually carried on his shoulders. It felt like ages ago since he had last worn it. Another leather strap later, the fur fit to his back like a second skin and suddenly had Zelda’s hand on his back as she pushed the hood into place. She ran her hand over the seam of the fur. “I never knew it was a hood.” she hummed and Twilight nodded briefly. “It came in handy sometimes.” he just said and reached for his arm-protectors.

Once he was done with those, having to tie them a bit looser over the Sheikah Glove he was wearing on his right hand, he turned to Zelda to help her with her own.

“Here you go, nice and tight.” he said - like Rusl had taught him. Zelda looked down at where his hand was easily sliding the buckle shut and took a deep breath. “It’s not … Ganon is not back, right …?” she asked, uncharacteristically afraid and Twilight grit his teeth for a moment as he thought about the reply. He smoothed his thumb over the new, untouched and stiff leather of Zelda’s brace.

“I can’t tell.” he said “But it might be related to whatever it was that brought us together.” he stepped back and looked up at her. 

“But whatever it is, we can face it together.”

***

Just an hour later, they mounted their horses and left the village, spurring Hippa and Hoofles on to new heights of speed. 

Night had fallen and the sky was a perfect black. 

A dull light painted the world around them an ominous colorless shade as just for tonight, the Moon had pushed itself into the Earth’s shadow. 

There was a perfect Eclipse in the sky and under any other circumstances, Zelda would have done everything in her might to look at it. But now, she focused her gaze on the road ahead, her heart pounding in her chest.

They thundered out of the village and down the hill, their sights set on the trembling castle only. Red clouds were hovering around the building, concealing it nearly completely from sight. The castle looked elevated, as if it was hovering a few feet above the ground on unsteady legs. They couldn’t really tell from the distance. 

Thick black clouds spread overhead, merging seamlessly with the black sky. 

The air smelled of copper as the wind picked up around them. 

By the time they arrived at the foot of the hill, the castle a towering presence in the near distance, the breeze had developed into a full-blown storm. The rain was unsettling cold, soaking their tunics and pricking at their skin like needles. They took a sharp turn to the right, rushing past the stable and over the little bridge, further towards the castle. 

No words were exchanged, only the occasional shout as they spurred their horses on, even though both their thoughts were going absolutely wild. 

***

The entirety of Hyrule Town was currently still under construction. 

Whatever structures had been left - no matter the state of disrepair, had been surrounded by scaffolding and were getting built back up. 

In places where not even a basic structure had still remained, Bolson had quickly swiped in and secured a massive job for his construction company. 

And so, little by little, Hyrule Town had come back to fruition with a mix of colorful, compact and dice shaped houses as well as old old buildings rebuilt from the grounds.

Usually it was swarming with construction workers, volunteers from every race across Hyrule or some vendors here and there that were hoping to make quick coin by selling lunch foods to the many people that were working day and night to bring the town to its former - or rather new glory.

But now the city was swarmed with monsters. As if someone had opened a floodgate, monsters were roaming about the streets, destroying supplies and scaffoldings here and there, some attacking workers that had failed to escape when the initial earthquake had hit. All the monster were tainted with pulsating black and red malice as they scratched and snarled and worked their way through the town.

Zelda already saw them from afar, as they finally reached the outskirts. So did Twilight. And if Zelda thought he had been good on horseback before - well she was in for a surprise. 

Twilight on Hoofles’ back descended on the monster hordes like a force of nature. 

She jumped over a low rise wall as Twilight drew his bow and arrow, holding on to the moving horse body with nothing but the strength in his thighs. Even though the mare was galloping at neck breaking speed, Twilight drew the string steadily and fired one of the arrows into a rope that held a stack of barrels. It snapped upon impact and the barrels crushed four or five Bokoblins underneath them that were currently assaulting one of the vendors. 

From the quiver, Twilight drew three arrows that landed straight between the eyes of three other Bokoblins that were preoccupied with trashing a scaffolding. Easily, he maneuvered the horse through the monsters, shooting at the smaller enemies until he had all but three arrows left and eventually drew his sword. He pressed the handle of his Ordon Blade into his palm to renew the spark going through his arm and decided to slay the monsters from an advanced height, slicing the blade across whatever chest he came upon. Brutally, Hoofles galloped over any monster he had felled with his arrows to deliver a finishing blow. 

He turned the blade in his hand and brought it down into the forehead of a Bokoblin, lifting the monster up in the process and tossed it over Hoofles back into an approaching mob of Bokoblins. They all went tumbling down and Twilight pulled at Hoofles reins, making her turn sharp on her axis. She snorted and threw her head back but proceeded onwards, hooves thundering across the cobble of Castle Town’s inner market. Twilight pulled his feet up and underneath him, propping himself up, controlling Hoofles with his left hand only as he readied his blade and jumped from her back just short of the staggering mob of bokoblins, beheading them all in one single spin attack. 

A moblin came at him with its spear, but Twilight swiftly moved out the attack, twisting his body along the length of the weapon and swiped the blade along the Moblin’s throat. Stinky monster blood gushed forward, but Twilight was already out of it, rolling sideways. As he made his way to a stack of woods, he brought down two other Bokoblins with a Helmsplitter that he fluently transformed into a Jump Slice. He was wired high on adrenaline, his muscles singing with the action they had missed so sorely and for the duration of the fight he forgot about the way his chest ached and his lungs struggled to get air. He slammed two fingers between his lips and let out a sharp whistle which prompted Hoofle to turn on her heel, gallop over two more Bokoblins and rush towards him. Twilight used the stack of wood as a leverage and swung himself back onto her.

As he did so, he noticed a bright light to his right and looked over. The princess had not fought on horseback, instead preferred to leave Hippa at the entrance and fight some of the monsters with her rapier and the light magic.

It made for an impressive display. 

She wound herself through the attacks on her tiptoes, like a graceful dancer, dodging swipes left and right as she brought her rapier forward not to deal brunt force but rather stab vital organs, the thin blade slipping between ribs effortlessly and pierce hearts. An orb of pure light rested in her left hand and more often than not she brought it up as a glowing shield, monster screeching as they were blinded by the devastating light. Whatever Bokoblin she wasn’t able to reach, she threw the orb at and it exploded in sparks, leaving behind nothing but dust. Her magic was purifying, peeling the malice away and leaving the monster weak so Zelda could bring them down easily.

She jumped over a moblin corpse and suddenly found herself surrounded by more Bokoblins and she sheathed her rapier for a second, bringing her hands in front of her chest, the tips of her fingers and thumb resting together in a triangle shape. Underneath her, the ground started glowing in a similar fashion as her magic made her float a few inches. With a shout, she thrust her hands forward and the moblins surrounding her were pierced by spears of light, causing them all to howl as their life left them. 

“Princess!” Twilight shouted and Zelda whirled around, spotting him as he came galloping towards her. “Twi! To the castle!” she reached her hand out and Twilight grabbed her wrist as he sped past her, effortlessly pulling her up, so she could sit behind him on Hoofles back.

***

There was a stone arch that had been rebuilt and that led to the cobblestone path that wound along the castle, all the way up to the entrance. Malice was dense behind the arch, a curtain that promised nothing but destruction and devastation. Zelda placed her hands together in prayer and a bubble of golden light surrounded them. 

As soon as they broke through, all sound disappeared. No sound reached their ears aside from the low rumble that promised new fears and monster among the wafts of darkness.

The closer they came to the actual castle, the more the Malice wore down on them. It pressed against the layer of protection, as if the energy was stretching and pulling. Hoofles snorted loudly and threw her head up every now and then and Twilight had to bring her down to a light trot as they pushed through, regardless of the overwhelming anger that ravished at their protection and was grinding on their nerves. 

“Easy, girl”, Twilight mumbled, bringing his hand forward to run it through her mane. “It’s all gonna be alright”, he assured her, trying to ignore the way his chest clenched at the sight of the darkness surrounding them. 

Through the moving shadows to their right, he thought he saw more than just rock rising as they made their way up. Something  _ moved _ next to them, stiff and slowly. Legs bigger than anything Twilight had ever seen. At least - he thought it could have been legs.

Maybe, what he really saw was just an unspoken evil, lying in wait for them at the top of the hill.

The Malice had to end at some point, right? He was left with nothing more to do than trust the ground under their feet, trying to predict when a curve would come their way and pray to Hylia that they wouldn’t drop down at the next corner. Zelda had both her arms slung around his waist and held on to him, mumbling under her breath as she prepared herself for any outcome she could think of. Twilight’s hand went to rest atop of hers.

“Princess”, he said quietly “Whatever we are going to face … it will be alright”, he assured her, too and looked at her over the shoulder. Hair had become untangled from his braid during the fight and flew about his face. Golden and red lights were casting ominous shadows on his features as his eyes spoke of nothing but sheer determination. 

Zelda looked back at him, her own eyes wide. It took her a moment before she nodded. “I know”, she said. “I trust you.” she whispered and buried her head between his shoulder blades, holding on to his waist.

***

It was times like these, as they reached the top of the winding path, that Twilight wished he still had the Master Sword with him. He remembered how it had been a beacon of hope as he had traversed the Twilight Realm and how it had shone for him even when he thought he had been at the end of the road.

He was at the end of a road now, too. Zelda took out one of her hair clips and put it to Hoofles bridle and Twilight made a whole show out of saying goodbye to the horse, as if he was never going to see her again. He wasn’t sure he was. Zelda made sure the hair clip was properly blessed so that the horse could find it’s way back down unharmed. 

“Be safe, honey. Okay?” Twilight whispered, leaning his forehead against Hoofles’ “You were a great companion and I can’t wait to see you again sometime.” he said and turned her around at the bridle before he slapped her flank and the horse galloped off.

Twilight took a deep breath and it didn’t take long before she was out of view. Zelda stood next to him then, the back of her hand brushing against the back of his. “Let’s do it.” Twilight said after a deep breath and he drew his sword. 

It didn’t shine for him. 

Twilight pressed the handle against his palm and the spark that erupted brought his muscle into motion. 

The fog inside the castle was just as dense and oppressive as it had been on the outside. A rumble continued to move through the very core of the castle and neither Twilight nor Zelda were sure if it really moved forward of it was still adjusting to the fact that it  _ could _ move. 

“I didn’t know”, Zelda said quietly, her rapier drawn as well “that the castle was able to do something like this. The whole layout is so different from what I remember and from what we were trying to rebuild. Could it have been the malice that changed it?” she wondered. “The throne room should be here”, she said as she stared down a long and dark corridor that seemed to twist inwardly, twist and twist until ceiling was floor and floor was ceiling. And yet, as they walked, their feet were rooted firmly to the ground. 

They marched along the wound corridor through another stone arch and found themselves in front of a set of wooden stairs that led further down into the abyss, further down into pitch black darkness. The Malice around them roared. Its cries were all they could hear except for their own breathing. “Should we go down?” Zelda asked and Twilight looked to their left and right and back over his shoulder. “It’s the only way I can see.” he said and looked at Zelda, who just nodded. 

Even the sound of their footsteps was swallowed by the darkness as they descended further down into a place Zelda had never been in before. In front of them, another corridor came into vision, completely different from what the castle walls had been. Where before there had been marble and glass and gold, the walls around them were now rough stone decorated with weird carvings. The floor was well treated and carved from the same stone. 

Eventually, the corridor opened into a cave. The carvings continued but for once, Zelda didn’t pay them much attention. A little river ran alongside next to them gurgling away gently. Neither of them had expected the corridor to open into a cave, given that they had just been inside the castle. Where were they now? Somewhere underneath the castle? Somewhere inside the castle?

Nothing looked familiar anymore. 

“Zelda”, Twilight said, drawing her attention away from the glowing crystals that littered their path and she followed to where he was pointing. 

The cave had opened into an even bigger chamber that was swarming with monsters.

Flurries of green energy filled the air, bearing down on their eyes, on their chest and Twilight thought he felt it deep in his bones. Underneath his clothes, something was warm against his chest and he took a deep breath. The carvings on the walls went on endlessly and overhead, they could not see the ceiling. 

Making sure that the Bokoblins and Moblins didn’t notice them, Twilight and Zelda crept further onward until more of the cave came into view. And as he had suspected, there it was - a massive Shadow Portal, malice and monsters swirling forth from it. As soon as Zelda spotted it too, she grabbed Twilight’s wrist.

“You can get back to the others!” she whispered and Twi snapped around to look at her with wide eyes.

“What? And leave you alone with this mess?” he hissed back, which only made Zelda nod fiercely. 

“Of course. This is what we’ve been working towards, right? We just have to beat these monsters and if you go through and the portal closes, maybe the Malice will go, too!”

Twilight just shook his head. This was ridiculous, he was not going to leave Zelda alone like this. Not when she needed help with the town, when there were monsters swarming all over the place. 

Just as he wanted to say so, as he wanted to assure Zelda that he was going to stay with her and not leave her behind even though everything inside of him screamed to go, longed to jump back into that portal, an arrow lodged itself into his shoulder and threw him forward into Zelda’s arm. He choked in surprise and pain and swiftly turned around his blade at the ready.

“We’ll talk about this, okay.” he said through grit teeth and jumped out of his hiding spot behind a set of rocks. 

Zelda came up too, her rapier tight in her hand and watched him move through the monsters, armed with nothing but his sword and shield. He brought down Bokoblin after Bokoblin with powerful blows and outstanding technique and Zelda shook her head for a moment. 

She had plenty of time to think about their next step later. After the defeated the monsters. 

And closed the portal.

Whether Twilight would still be with her or not was something she could worry about then.

***

The fight was going well and Zelda could not remember the last time she had felt this strong. One by one, she brought down monster after monster, dodging attacks, swiping out of the way of several clubs being swung at her. She was a good fighter, she knew that. Not as good as Twilight but she was getting there. 

But no matter how well she was doing, she was still getting hit and soon she was littered in bruises and little cuts. Blood was dripping down her face from a cut in her cheek as she brought her rapier straight into the eyes of a Bokoblin. The last one as far as she could tell. She straightened herself up and looked around, trying to locate Twilight among the piles of monster remains. 

He stood, gaze focused on the Shadow Portal. His bangs were matted with blood where a Moblin’s spiked club had grazed his forehead a tad bit too closely. His breath was going a million miles a minute as he angrily rubbed his right eye free of the grime and the blood. Zelda’s eyes narrowed as Twilight doubled over and coughed, a splash of red covering his palm as he pulled his hand back. 

“Twi!” Zelda called out but stopped short when Twilight held his hand out harshly, drops of the red liquid flying off the tip of his fingers. 

“Stay back!” he barked, his gaze back on the dark portal that was still swirling in a sinister way. Then she saw, what Twilight was seeing. 

From the pitch black wafts of energy another creature emerged, towering over Twilight at a staggering two meters height, a monster clad in gleaming black armor with a round shield and a broadsword any other warrior would have carried in two hands. Zelda noticed how Twilight rolled his shoulders and shifted his weight as he got ready to fight, unafraid.

She got a sense he knew what he was up against…

Black smoke filled their surroundings as the monster remains around them evaporated into nothingness but Zelda could care less for it as her eyes wouldn’t leave the dark knight that stomped across the stone floor, focused solely on Twilight. 

The other had brought his shield up with his left, holding the sword in his right and twisted the blade briefly. Then all at once, both rushed forward and their blades clashed with a resonating ‘clank’. 

Zelda’s body jerked forward as the dark knight swung his massive blade with brutal force but Twilight jumped out of the way, rolling around the foe and brought his blade up, slashing off a good portion of the enemy’s armor. It clattered to the ground but the fiend was unfaced as he swirled around and thrusted his blade forward only to crush against Twilight’s shield. He moved it up just in the right moment, so that the knight’s blade was thrown back and Twilight moved in, slicing across the straps that held the front armor on the beast's body. 

It clattered down as Twilight somersaulted backwards, landing on his feet and staggering back as his foot came down a rock in a wrong way and his leg gave in. He slammed down on his knee with a curse and brought his sword up just in time to parry the assault of the dark knight who had seized his momentary stumble immediately. Twilight grit his teeth against the pressure, a growl forming in the back of his throat. He tasted iron on his tongue but could pay it no mind.

It felt like the Darknut was the last enemy the portal would throw at them before it would close and he didn’t know if he wanted to take his time and beat it and let the portal close or hurry and be over with it and go through. 

He pushed against the blade with all his strength, forcing himself back on his feet. A scream ripped itself from his throat as he finally pushed the Darknut back and followed up with a shield attack that took its balance away and Twilight jumped, bringing the sword down and slashing its helmet in two.

With its last piece of armor gone, the dark knight jumped back and abandoned his broadsword in a harsh motion, grabbing instead the sword that hung at its side. Even underneath the heavy armor, it was still wearing padded leather. 

Twilight knew how they were going to dance now. 

He shook his arm out briefly, renewing the spark that had died down and heard Zelda gasp as the dark knight suddenly moved a lot faster, dashing for him quickly and brutally. 

Zelda’s heart raced as she noticed how Twilight’s breath came out in short and shallow bursts, how the blood was flowing down his face again partially obscuring his sight and she found herself running, suddenly, as the knight brought his shoulder roughly against Twilight’s chest.

_ It was hundred years ago and Link stood in front of her, legs shaking. _

Twilight slammed down, a harsh cough bringing fresh blood to his lips. His sword clattered out of reach.

_ He was going to protect her again, despite his injuries and she couldn’t let that happen. _

The dark knight was moving in, raising its blade in preparation of a finishing blow.

_ It didn’t matter if Hylia would not lend her her power, she could absolutely not let Link die, too.  _

Zelda stumbled over a rock but she pushed herself up again and continued running.

_ Even if she would die here - at least Link would be safe.  _

_ She stood in front of Link _ \- no she stood over Twilight- and she brought her hand forward.

_ The guardian fired. _

The dark knight brought his blade down.

**_“No!”_ **

Golden light exploded in the cave and the Darknut was thrown back from the sheer force and slammed to the ground, pierced by a spear of gold light. The monster evaporated and a strange silence filled the cave, disturbed only by the roar of the portal that was right next to them, creating an eerie backdrop.

“Princess …” Twilight said quietly and Zelda turned around to him, helping him up with some effort. 

“Are you alright?” she asked worriedly and patted him down, feeling torn fabric here and there but only few blades actually managed to penetrate the chainmail underneath. Dull purple light painted the side of his face and she took her sash off and wiped his face clean of the blood to her best abilities. Her hands were shaking from the adrenaline. “I’m fine.” Twilight replied, putting his hands to her, hoping that the contact would calm her down. 

Zelda turned her palms upward so she could really hold his hands and focused on their joined fingers. His prosthetics felt cold against her skin and her heart sank further the more adrenaline left her system.

“You have to go…” she said quietly and Twilight stopped, his heart stuttering in his chest. 

“I can’t leave you alone with this.”

Zelda shook her head. “You have to. We both know you don’t belong here … you miss your brothers and they need you. The world needs you …”

Twilight felt cold suddenly, as dark gusts of wind tore at their hair and their clothes and he felt the gravity of the portal pulling him towards it.

He felt everything and nothing all at once. Here was his chance to get back to Time, to Sky, to the cub and he had always thought he would jump at it, right away. 

But now that he had the chance, he looked down at Zelda who stood in front of him and returned his gaze full of a feeling he could not describe.

“Princess …” he said again, helpless, not knowing where he was going to let this sentence end.

She pried her hands free and pushed his bangs up to look at his face. 

“You have to”, she insisted and he knew he had. “They are waiting for you.” and he knew they were.

It still didn’t stop his heart from breaking.

Warmth filled his body as Zelda used her light magic to heal his injuries, her hands still on his forehead. They moved down to cup his face, brushing her thumb gently across a scar on his cheek. One of the many.

Twilight wrapped his arms around her upper body in that embrace that Zelda painfully realized could never be replaced, could never be done by anyone but him. 

She focused on his face, trying to commit every bit of it to her memory. His pained, steel blue eyes, his thick black lashes. The curve of his nose and the scars that told a story even if he was silent. She felt his jaw work under her palm and she grabbed him a little tighter. 

She knew he had to go. She knew he didn’t belong here, didn’t belong with her. They were bound to be torn asunder. Zelda knew all of this,  _ had known  _ all of this the moment she realized it was more than just friendship she felt for him.

Knowledge still didn’t protect her heart from shattering.

Zelda bit the inside of her cheek and made a decision. 

And with her hands still holding on to his face, she pulled him down on her level and pressed her cracked lips to his.

She felt the scar that tore his lip apart, she tasted sweat and blood but none of it mattered as Twilight froze for a second but pulled her closer, flush to his body and returned the kiss with all the despair of a dying man. 

They seperated when neither of them could breath anymore and Twilight let out a sigh as he swallowed dryly and leaned his forehead on hers. 

Zelda caressed his cheek, her eyes squeezed shut and for moments they stood like this in their final embrace.

“Goodbye.” he whispered.

Twilight stepped back, stepped away from her and the coldness of his missing body made her shiver. She watched him pick up his sword and shield that he had lost in his previous fight.

She could not even say another word, just hold her hand up for him in a frozen wave as he turned around at the edge of the portal a final time. Their gaze locked for a long moment before he, too, lifted his hand and walked through.

The darkness swallowed him whole and the portal collapsed in a matter of seconds.

Zelda, in turn, was swallowed by the silence that followed his departure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and this concludes Umbra?!?!?
> 
> Crazy!!! Thank you all for coming along this wild ride, all of your feedback was appreciated and I loved all the kind words I got from you while I wrote this massive piece of work! I decided to stick with my idea of Zelda and Twilight after all.
> 
> The initial google doc has a whopping 157 pages now and it will only grow longer still.
> 
> Keep your eyes peeled for the next part of the Lunar series "Reversed Moon" !
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading, I love all of you <3<3


End file.
